The Gentleman Caller
by snheetah
Summary: Honest John sees an ad about a rich vixen who wants a lover. He decides to be her gentleman caller. When they meet, he has to steal her riches and also kill her family so there won't be any leads. Will he be able to do this or go against the coachman?
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Pinocchio**

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><p>"Hi deedle dee-dee! This con life is for me," a voice was heard inside the dark gloomy distance at the Red Lobster Inn. Inside the inn were a cat, fox, and a man in a red suit also known as the coachman. The trio were laughing, smoking, and drinking as they heard the fox's little scheme. The fox laughed as he pulled out a stash of money from his pockets. He slapped the cash on the table. "We tricked that old fool didn't we Giddy?" he said as he looked at the cat.<p>

Gideon, or "Giddy" in this case, nodded through his beer cup.

"My name is Honest John for a reason," the fox proudly said as he flipped through the money to see how much he had.

"More like dishonest," the coachman stated.

"Yes that too," John said as he admired the stolen riches, "my dishonesty led to the man's fate."

The coachman's evil eyes lit up as he leaned closer to John. "How did you manage to do it? No rich people come to this part of the village."

"Ha!" the fox laughed with glee, "you'd be surprised. Lots of rich people do come here. Take Stromboli for example. He is not that rich but his money sure pays well."

"Forget about that fool," the coachman impatiently said as he moved his hands in the air, "how did you kill the fellow?"

"I told that ol' sucker that if he did me one specific favor, I would pay him well. Giddy here," he indicated to the cat who was blowing out smoke circles from his mouth, "followed him to the bridge, tripped him, and the worst come to that old fool."

The lips on the coachman's face turned into a malicious grin. "This is the first murderous act I have heard from you, Foulfellow," the coachman said, "I'm impressed." He suddenly held out his hands in front of John, indicating for the money. "You might as well give me the money," he calmly said.

John looked at the coachman, at the money, and back to the coachman. "Why?"

The coachman put his hand down on the table and drummed his fingers on it. "I need all the money I could get to rebuild Pleasure Island again. Those stupid little boys had made such a destruction than the last ones."

John was hesitant to give him the money. He knew better than to argue with the coachman but he still didn't want to give up the wealth that he had stolen. "How much money are we talking about?"

"Plenty," the coachman emphasized as he spread out his arms.

John let out a nervous laugh, "wouldn't it be more reasonable if I held onto the money?" he asked as he held out the stack in front of him.

"No," the coachman said as he took the money out of his gloved paw. "Absolutely not and do you know why?" he asked as John shook his head, "because you would spend them."

"No I wouldn't," John said as he shook his head once more.

"Stop lying to me John," the coachman answered, as he gradually grew red in the face. "I'm not fooled by a fox."

John didn't say anything else. He did not want to feel the coachman's wrath. "What shall I get in return?" he finally asked.

"Hmm," the coachman said as the deeply thought about an offer to give John. A smile formed on his lips as he mysteriously added, "you'll see."

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><p>In the morning, John and Giddy exited out of the inn, in search of other victims that they could con or possibly murder. John didn't take any pleasure at murdering someone but he needed the money. He could not forget about last night and the conversation that he had with the coachman. John fast-walked down the street.<p>

Giddy held onto his hat as he tried to catch up with John. When he did, he let out a puff of breath.

"He's not being fair Giddy," John finally said, "that money was mine, not his. Finders keepers. The boss gets all of the money and we get what is left of it. I successfully stole the money from that chump only to be taken away from me."

Giddy stopped walking and scowled at him, indicating the word _I_?

John nervously laughed, "I mean 'we,'" he corrected himself, "and 'us' of course."

Giddy smiled and gave him a quick nod.

"Sometimes being a conman is great sometimes its very difficult," John said. "If only there was a simple way to get money without doing any work." As he walked down the sidewalk, a piece of paper with bold letters was plastered on a wall. John stopped walking and looked at the bold print of the letters. "Look Giddy," he said. He turned his head and saw that the cat was skipping away. "Get back here you," he said as he grabbed him with his cane. "Look at this."

Giddy looked at the sign. He scratched his head at the words, indicating that he didn't know what it read.

"Scarlette Vinxington," John said as he looked at the name. "Sounds like a name for a rich dame. Well just our luck, she wants a gentleman to marry her. Well," he said as he straightened himself. "I'm going to be the first one then."

Giddy made a face at him.

"Why do you ask? Because I am charming, I am sly, and I can talk," John said, "you my friend," he said as he pointed at Giddy, "will do what you do best."

Giddy nodded and jumped for excitement.

"That's right Giddy," John said, "steal all her riches and we finally have a one way ticked to east street," the fox happily shouted as he pumped his paw in the air. "Hi deedle dee-dee, this con life is for me," he sang as the two con men disappeared into the distance.


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Pinocchio**

**For the setting, I'm changing up the century a little bit because I don't know how to character interaction without technology in this one so yeah...:)**

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><p>John and Giddy continued to walk down the street. John picked up any abandoned cigars from the ground and swiped a match against a wall and lit it up. He had been thinking about his scheme for quite sometime of how he was going to come into contact with this Scarlette dame? The same sign caught his eye as he looked at the information once more. He ripped it out of the wall and scanned through it. Even though he couldn't one hundred percent read he still distinguished what were numbers and what were letters. The phone number was written on the paper.<p>

"Perfect," he said, "look Giddy," he said as he showed the paper to the cat, "now all I need to do is find a telephone."

Giddy looked around. Inside a home, he saw a telephone that was resting by a nearby window on a table. He tugged on John's blue cloak and pointed at the window with his cane.

"What is it?" John asked as he looked from Giddy to the telephone. "Lets go," he said as he ran over to the window. John suddenly stopped in his tracks as Giddy ran past him and flew to the window. The window smashed as John put a hand over his eyes to protect them from the shards.

Giddy dizzily got up from the ground and gave John a thumbs up followed by a hiccup.

John took a look around to check if anyone suddenly entered the door. He wouldn't be surprised if they did after the noise that Giddy caused. He jumped in the house and covered the window with the drapes that were hanging by the sides of the window. He sat down on the green sofa, pulled the number out of his pocket and began to dial the number.

Giddy turned his head to the left and the right as he inspected the room. He ran over to a drawer and opened it. Inside the drawer there was a mess of papers, glasses, writing materials, and a gun. Giddy picked up the gun and looked at it.

"Idiot put that back," John said as he flew from the sofa towards Giddy. He grabbed the gun out of his grip, "you might kill someone with this." Suddenly an idea struck him as a smile spread on his lips, "on second thought, why not?" he put the gun inside his cloak as he returned back to the phone.

Giddy reached into the drawer and pushed the papers out of the way. He lifted up a pile and under the pile was a stack of hidden money. He grabbed the money from the drawer and buried it deep inside his pockets. He went ahead and explored the other room to check if they had any buried treasure around.

"Yes hello," John said in a smooth voice, "I took an interest to your add madam about wanting a gentleman caller."

"Why yes," a female voice said on the other line. John cringed when he heard the voice. It was high-pitched and scratchy as if she was an old woman. "Might you tell me your name please?"

"You certainly may my dear," John said, "John Worthington Foulfellow."

"Ooh," the lady said, "sounds like a rich name."

"I am rich of course. The richest man in the world for you my dear," he said.

"For me?" the lady repeated. "Oh I'm not the one that needs a gentleman."

John looked at the number on the paper checking it if he had typed in the wrong number. "Isn't this Scarlette Vixington I'm speaking to."

"Oh no," the lady laughed, "I'm her mother."

"M-mother?" John repeated as if he couldn't believe it.

"Mary Vixington is the name," she introduced herself, "oh she'll be so happy to meet you Mr. Foulfellow. Does tomorrow work well for you?"

"Oh yes," John said with a nod of his head, "tomorrow is perfectly wonderful."

"Well until then sir," Mary said as she hung up the phone.

John did the same thing. He couldn't believe it. He had talked to this girl's mother instead of the girl herself. If he was planning on robbing them, he had to be extra careful to not be caught by either woman. That or he had to kill them both, which is something that he didn't take such a pleasure in. When he killed that man on the bridge, he did feel a pain in his stomach but getting the money was a good feeling afterward. He turned his attention to the house and gasped. It was a mess.

Giddy skipped back into the living room as if it was just a normal day.

"What have you done?" John asked as he spread out his arms and towered over Giddy.

Giddy quickly pulled out the money from his pocket and gave it to John. John looked at the money, slowly took them in his hand, and took his time counting them. "Not bad Giddy," he said, "a lot more of this and we'll be rich when we're seventy two."

Giddy enthusiastically nodded as he dug his paw deep inside his pockets and pulled out some jewelry that he had stolen.

"Pretty," he said as he picked up a pearl necklace, "this would be the perfect gift for my dear Scarlette," he said as the pearls sparkled, "give this to her and later her one way ticket into meeting her fate. Humans are easy to fool."

Giddy jumped with excitement in hearing John's words.

John straightened his back. "Let's go Giddy. Off to getting rich clothes for tomorrow." With that, the fox and the cat left the house and walked down the street.


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Pinocchio**

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><p>The sun brilliantly shined as people walked down the streets of Italy. Giddy's tongue hung out of his as sweat pooled from his forehead. He wiped his forehead with the back of his paw and let out a sigh. He halted as he saw a fountain. He ran to it and dunked his head in there to cool himself off. He looked into the water and saw money that people had thrown. He smiled as he reached in and grabbed the money.<p>

"What do you think you're doing?" John suddenly asked him.

Giddy lost his balance and fell straight into the fountain. As he fell, the water splashed all over John. Giddy's head popped up from the water and he stared at John. He meekly smiled as he held up a shiny gold coin.

John hit him on the head with the cane and pulled him out of fountain. "Now is not the time to fool around Giddy. We have a lot to do today for tomorrow."

Giddy nodded.

"First," the fox said as he sat down by the fountain, "we have to act like proper gentlemen to the rich humans. You have to work on the Giddy."

Giddy made a face at John. He looked at his paws and then at his clothes. He scratched his head, indicating that he had no clue at what John was talking about.

John rolled his eyes at the cat. "Instead of sitting with your legs spread our, they should be on top of one another. Like so," he said as he put one leg on his other leg.

Giddy sat down by the water fountain and instead of letting his legs do all of the work, he grabbed his legs with his paws and put it on top of the other. Once he did that, he smiled at John.

"Work on that," John pointed out to the cat. "The other thing that the rich do is that they stick their noses in the air," John instructed as he slightly raised his nose in the air.

Giddy bought his neck forward and held his head up.

"You need to work on that too," he said, "now the walk." He got up from his seat and bought his can forwards. As he did, he walked in front of the cane and bought the in front of him. He did this walk in an elegant fashion. He turned his head and saw Giddy running behind him. "Work on that too." John had no idea how they were going to pull off this rich act if Giddy didn't even know how to act like one.

It was worth a try. He hoped they wouldn't be caught by the police anytime soon. "Come Giddy," John said to the cat, "off to get rich clothes now." He said as the two of them walked down the street in search of a shop.

Along the way, John thought of other ways how the rich acted. They acted in a snooty and sophisticated manner, he understood that. Maybe that was it. All he had to do was brag about the things that he had not done. That was good enough for him. "There's one," he suddenly said as he pointed to the store with his cane.

The two of them entered the store and looked at the tuxedos, top hats, white gloves, shiny canes, and black shiny shoes waiting to be sold to those that had money.

"I think we came to the right store," John said as they walked around.

Giddy grabbed tux from the hanger and wrapped himself around it. He took a top hat and put it on his head that completely covered his eyes. He staggered forwards and bumped behind John.

John turned around and glared at Giddy. He took the hat off of his head. "Do you want to be kicked out?" he asked. He looked at the top hat and tried it on his own head. "I say this fits perfectly. Let's see if the jacket does." He took the jacket off of Giddy and tried it on himself in the mirror. "That looks perfect." He looked around and took a pair of black pants, white gloves, a shiny cane, black shoes, and a white shirt with a black bow-tie. He ran into a room and quickly changed into his new clothes. "I feel like a rich gentleman," he said as he walked out of the room.

Giddy looked at the fox. He liked the way the fox looked with the new outfit. He wanted to look that way too.

"Don't worry," John said as he patted the cat on the shoulder, acting nice all of a sudden. "I'll get the clothes for you." He looked around the shop and got the right size shoes, tux, hat, shirt, gloves, and cane for Giddy. "Put these on," he ordered as he gave the clothes to him and pushed him into the back room.

A few minutes passed and Giddy finally cam out in his new clothes. Giddy spread out his arms at John to indicate how he looked like.

"Like you're rich," John told him.

As the two were about to walk out of the store, they stopped in their tracks. The store owner was behind the register desk. He wasn't there when they entered the store. "The back door," John whispered to Giddy.

They stealthily went to the back of the room and out the back door. They left the store and continued down the street to find the home of Scarlette Vixington.


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Pinocchio. The name for Scarlett's father was an idea that one of my friends gave me. Thank you so much.**

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><p>It took hours for John and Giddy to reach the town on the rich. Giddy looked around as he saw rich people walking down the street. He was about to go and reach inside the pocket of a gentleman when John grabbed him with the cane.<p>

"Rich people don't steal," John told him, "they already have money. Now act like a gentleman."

John took out the slip of paper that had Scarlett's number on it. He skimmed through the paper and he found her address. Her residence was located in Moonlight Valley. "Sounds like a peaceful residence," John commented as he rolled the slip of paper and put it in his pocket. "Now all we have to do is find the house before it gets dark." He looked up at the sky and saw that it was way past afternoon.

Giddy ran over to a store and looked inside the window. He put his pawn on the window and his mouth watered as he stared at the gorgeous cake display. It had been a long time since Giddy had eaten any cake. He forgot how it even tasted like. He couldn't take it anymore. He ran inside the shop to look around at the delicious delicatessens. As he walked in, he saw a baker decorating another cake with pink frosting.

On top of the table stood a pedestal that was covered with a sweet selection of cupcakes. Giddy's desire to get one of those sweet treats increased. He hid to the ground when the baker turned around to put the cake on the table. Giddy watched as the back doors where the baker entered closed. He sprung up from the ground and grabbed the closest cupcake he could find. The one that he stole was a chocolate cupcake with yellow frosting on it and a cherry on top for decoration. He ran out of the store and as he was about to eat the indulgent dessert, he saw John approaching him. Giddy turned around and stuffed the cupcake in his mouth and quickly gulped it down. Even though he couldn't take his time and enjoy the treat, it was still a bonus for him to eat one.

"There you are Giddy," John said as Giddy turned around and looked at him with an innocent smile. "What is that on your face?" John asked as he looked at the yellow frosting that was hanging from Giddy's whisker. "Did you steal again?"

Giddy shook his head no.

"You can't fool me," John said, "if I see you stealing again, you're in big trouble. Now come on, we have a house to find." The two continued down the street.

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><p>Hours passed and the bright blue sky turned navy blue. John and Giddy still hadn't found the house and Giddy was growing tired from all of the walking. John scratched his head as he stared at the slip of paper. It really said Moonlight Valley and the street they were on was not even close to it.<p>

"If we keep walking, we'll find it eventually," John said. They walked to the right of the street and they looked from house to house. The houses were huge covered with decorations in the front and backyard. There were small miniature statue animals, vases with flowers resting on the porch, and green grass. The windows were dark and the streets were quiet for everyone had gone to sleep.

"There!" John yelled as he pointed to the street name. It was Moonlight Valley and the home was right across the street sign. The bright full moon shined behind the house. John and Giddy walked in front of the house and looked at the name of the residents that lived there. On the brick wall on the gold sign, it said 'The Vixington Residence.' "We're at the right place," John said.

Giddy looked from the nameplate and then at the house. It was huge of course but that wasn't what Giddy was looking at. He looked at the ground and saw a bill swaying there as the light breeze passed through it. Giddy pushed on the gate and to his luck it was open. He got inside the property and ran towards the bill. He looked at it and saw that it was a hundred dollar bill.

"Giddy!" John hissed at the cat, "get back here!"

Giddy could barely hear him. He was too consumed with his prize. He kissed the bill and jumped up and down in the air doing a happy dance. As he was dancing, his cane swiped against a vase and it shattered on the ground.

John ran to Giddy and grabbed him by the back of his tux. John looked up at the windows as he saw the lights flicker on. Running footsteps were heard inside the house. John looked at the gate and saw that they were not even near it. He dragged Giddy and they hid inside the bushes.

"Who's there?" the voice of a gruff man yelled.

John hid within the bushes as he saw a gun coming out from the side of the house. He put a hand over Giddy's mouth before the cat let out a hiccup.

"Richard," a soft female voice said, "relax, you'll wake the children."

"Mary, what's more important?" Richard asked his wife, "our safety or waking up the whole neighborhood?"

"You need to rest," Mary told him, "we all need to be fresh tomorrow for Mr. Foulfellow tomorrow."

"Not until I find out who was at my house," Richard said as he walked down the steps and looked around the lawn. "Look! They even broke your vase."

"And you're going to stay here all nigh because someone broke my vase?" Mary asked him, "at least be glad that they didn't kill the children."

Richard turned around and looked at Mary. "You are crazy sometimes."

Mary let out an exasperated sigh. "You look around for the culprit. I am going back to bed," she said as she closed the door behind her.

Richard stood outside, scratching his head. After minutes of standing there with his gun, he walked over to the gate and locked it with his key. He put the key inside his pocket and walked back inside the house.

Once Richard was gone, John and Giddy ran out of the bushes and to the gate. John pulled on the gate but it only rattled. "Look at what you got us into," John scolded the cat. "Climb up now!" he hissed.

Giddy jumped up at the gate and quickly climbed out of it. John followed after him. As he reached the top of the gate, the door of the house opened.

"Freeze!" Richard yelled as he help up his gun at them.

John lost his balance and fell to the ground. He quickly got up and ran away with Giddy before the shots were fired at them.

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><p>After their dangerous encounter, John and Giddy returned back the to Red Lobster Inn. They walked inside the bar and John plummeted on the chair. He folded his arms on the table and put his head down.<p>

Giddy took a blanket that was folded on a chair and put it around John's shoulders. As he was doing this, a shadow lurked behind him.

"Good evening gentlemen," a voice said to them. Giddy jumped the air and crashed into John, making him get up.

"What? Who?" John yelled as he looked around the room. He turned around and saw the coachman standing by the doorway. "Oh its you," he answered, "you scared me."

The Coachman walked down the steps and sat down the table next to John. He took a cigar out of a wooden box and offered one to John who gladly accepted it. "I see that you're changed up," the Coachman said as he sucked on the cigar. "Why?"

"Well," John said, "I saw this ad about a family wanting a gentleman caller for their daughter. I called them and they accepted me."

"They're rich right?" the Coachman asked.

"Absolutely. The only reason why I'm pretending to be this gentleman caller is to steal their money," John said as he filled him on the plan.

After John was done talking, the Coachman gave him a smirk. "What about killing them after?"

"See," John began, "I was thinking about that but I can easily do it without killing them."

"My dear friend," the Coachman said, "if you don't kill them, they are going to find out who the suspect is and you will end up in jail. You easily killed that man that you told me about last time."

"Yeah," John uneasily said. He didn't like it when he had done such a cruel deed but he had to do it. It was all because of money that he was deprived of.

"And don't forget," the Coachman added as he leaned closer to John, "whatever money I have left when I'm done rebuilding Pleasure Island, it's going to be all yours."

John nodded at the fat man. He had an uneasy feeling going inside of him. He felt queasy and sick to his stomach when he thought of killing another innocent life.

"And here is your weapon," the Coachman said as he pulled a gun out of his robes and put in on the table close to John. "Use it well." With that, the Coachman got up and left the room, leaving John there staring at the gun.


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Pinocchio**

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><p>The sun gradually rose behind the hills as it created a red-orange blanket across the town. Its rays brilliantly shined through the windows of the houses and stores as it created a light slant of light onto the floor. The small and only window from the inn welcomed the sun's rays to pass through the glass. The rays hit the glass, making the inside look bright. John moved in his sleep as he blocked his eyes away from the sunlight. He tipped his hat over his eyes and managed to block out the harsh light.<p>

Giddy was alread awake and was rummaging behind the bar table, looking for something to eat. His breakfast usually consisted of bread and beer, but there was no bread for him. He turned his head and saw a cupboard. Smiling, he ran over to the cupboard and opened it up. There was nothing but a spider and a web in there. Spider? Giddy took his wooden hammer out of his clothes and slammed it on the spider.

The noise vibrated through the inn. John jumped out of his chair and landed on the floor. At first, he was perplexed but when he saw Giddy with the wooden hammer, he sent the cat a glare. "Would you keep it down?" he snapped as he got up from the ground. "Some of us are trying to sleep!"

Giddy hid his wooden hammer behind his back and pretended as if it was just a normal day. John got up from the ground and sat back down on the chair. Well, he was awake now, thanks to Giddy's alarm clock. He put his hand on his neck and rubbed it. It was tense and it hurt when he slowly turned it around. The event from yesterday was not traumatic for him, but during the night, he had nightmares about it. In his nightmare, he was running away from the gun man once more while bullets were being targeted at him. He could still hear the bang, bang from yesterday. He watched as Giddy looked about the room for some breakfast. John slowly shook his head when he saw that. He didn't find it fair that the poor had to suffer without food, while the rich stuffed themselves with anything they had lying around. Well, sometimes life was not fair. It does have opportunities though and people also taking advantage of their life to make it better...or worse.

Two leather boots squeaked as they made their way down the stairs. John heard the sound of the boots and turned around to see the Coachman doing a stretch and a yawn. "Good morning gentlemen," he said to John and Giddy. "Do we have anything for breakfast today?"

Giddy's head popped up from behind the bar table and he slowly shook his head 'no.'

"That's a shame," the Coachman said. He pulled out a cigar from his box and lit it up. "Well, no matter. I'm sure we can steal some food today, what do you say boys?"

John perked up as he remembered something. He heard the church bells ringing as he saw happy children skipping to school. He squinted as he saw a familiar black-haired boy with blue eyes wearing a yellow hat with a red feather stuck on it, brown shoes, a blue bow-tie, a yellow shirt, and red overalls skipping to school while holding a red apple and a book. John knew that he had seen him from somewhere but this boy looked different than from the one he had seen. He looked...human.

"John?" the Coachman asked John.

John turned and looked at the Coachman. "I can't steal today."

The Coachman looked at John with confusion. "This is the first time I have heard you say something like that."

"I have a meeting with the Vixingtons today," John explained, "both Giddy and I."

The Coachman looked at the cat. "Why do you need him?"

"Oh you know the rich sir," John slightly shrugged, "they have their own butler." A crash was heard behind them and John and the Coachman looked at the rucus. Giddy had opened another cupboard and all its contents had spilled out and landed on top of him. Giddy got out of the pile and let out a hiccup.

John let out a sight and rolled his eyes while the Coachman only chuckled at Giddy.

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><p>After having left the inn, John and Giddy were on their way to the rich peoples' town. Another long and sweltering destination for them to go but John tried to be optimistic about it. Giddy on the other hand was in a good mood. He walked as his normal self without even bothering to walk as John had instructed him to.<p>

As Giddy was walking, his foot got caught against a vase that was holding flowers and he fell on the ground. The flowers from the vase fell on top of his back.

"Oh my goodness sir are you alright," the store owner asked as he ran over to Giddy and picked him up from the ground. He brushed the dust from Giddy's clothes as quickly and nervously as possible. Suddenly, the man took off his hat from his head and kneeled down on the ground. "Forgive sir," he said as he bowed his head at Giddy, "surely you're not upset with me."

John had watched the whole scene. The way this store owner had reacted when Giddy fell, John came to one conclusion. This man was not all rich but an ordinary man trying to make a living. John walked up to the man and glared at him. "I am upset with you," he said as he made the store owner gasp. "Just who do you think you are?"

"I-I-I'm sorry sir," the store owner stammered out his apology. "It was an accident."

"It was on purpose! You only did that because you wanted to steal my friend's money, am I right?" John accused him.

"I wasn't intending to sir," the poor man said as sweat pooled on his forehead, "how can I make it up to you?"

John looked at the lovely flowers that were resting in the vases. This plump roses looked beautiful to give to a girl. "I would like to have that bouquet of roses over there," John said as he pointed to the roses, "for free."

"Yes sir, right away," the store owner said as he ran over to the roses and made them into a pretty bouquet. His hands shook throughout the process. He was afraid that his costumer might call the police and have him accused that he tried to steal. He would never do that in his life and he didn't want to spend his life in jail. Although he found out something about himself today, he was frightened of rich people. He put a ribbon around the green stems of the roses and then handed them over at John. "Here you go sir."

"Thank you," John said as he took the roses in his hands, "and just a suggestion, DON'T STEAL!" he yelled as he walked away with a confused Giddy following him. A smile crept up John's lips at his accomplishment. It was good being a fox. You could get away with anything.

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><p>As the two conmen walked through the pavement, the Vixington house was right up the hill from where they were. John let out a puff of air. "We've finally made it," he said. He looked over at Giddy who was staring at the mansion as if it was his first time looking at it. "Now, before we go inside, I should give you a heads up. Walk straight, with your nose in the air, and be respectful to the hosts."<p>

Giddy enthusiastically nodded at John. He rolled up the black sleeves from his tux, tipped his top hat to the side, and kept a firm grip on his cane and walked as John had instructed.

"And one more thing," John spoke, "don't be you when we're inside the house." The two of them continued to walk until they had reached the house. John slightly opened the gate of the house and slipped inside with Giddy following him. He walked up the steps of the house and once he did, he rang the doorbell and waited.

Behind the door, he heard muffled voices of a woman. "Stand up stright, don't slouch," a woman was heard snapping at somebody. "Come on, come on," she continued to say.

"Dear stop making a big deal out of this," a male voice was heard inside.

"Oh phooey," the woman said. "How do I look? Oh dear, oh dear, I knew that I should have applied that skin cream last night."

"Just open the door. He hasn't gotten all day," the male voice said.

"Alright, alright," the woman said as she walked up to the door.

John quickly straightened himself when he heard the door click. The door opened as a woman came out. Although, to his shock, she was not a woman. John had thought that they were going to be human but they weren't. The woman that had opened the door, was an old looking vixen. Her fur was a dark orange color, and she was wearing a sophisticated silk dress.

"Mr. Foulfellow!" the fox squealed as she pulled on his arm and gave him kiss on both of his cheeks. "Oh it is lovely to have finally met you. Come in, come in!"

John smiled at her. "Thank you miss," he said as he walked inside the house. He was amazed at how this house looked like. The walls were covered in wallpaper that had nature-like items on it, there were also paintings made by famous Renaissance artists, and also photographs of the family. There was also a cupboard that was filled with sparkling china and glass menageries.

Giddy felt like he was in a fanatsy land. All those sparkling items made him want to touch them. He walked up to the cupboard but was pulled away by John's cane and pulled into the living room.

"Well Mr. Foulfellow," the old vixen smiled at him. "I would like to meet my husband," she said as she walked over to him. "This is Richard," she said. Richard was taller than John. He had brown eyes, straight shoulders, and a well-ironed costume. The thing that intimidated John about Richard was that from the look in his eyes, they were stern.

"Nice to meet you sir," Richard said as he grabbed John's hand and shook it. "I am sure that you have talked to my wife Mary about our daughter."

"Oh yes he has," the woman, named Mary, said.

When Richard grabbed his hand, he held a tight grip onto it and shook it as hard as possible. John looked up from his hand and then at Richard. "Pleasure," John said.

"And this is our young-" Mary paused as she looked at the empty spot. "Oh now where did she go?" she said as she put her hands on her hips and walked out of the living room. "Arianna!" she called from room to room. "Arianna get back downstairs or you will not have any supper tonight!" Mary said as she climbed upstairs to get her.

John had just realized something. Him and Giddy were left in the living room with the man that had tried to shoot them last night. John looked at Richard and got another uneasy feeling. He felt as though Richard knew that it was him and Giddy that were in his yard last night.

"Well Mr. Foulfellow," Richard spoke up, "where do you live?"

John forze at the question. "I live close to a good town," John said.

"Really now?" Richard said. "In what part of town?"

"Oh where the sun is the highest and brightest," John said.

"Diamond Street?" Richard asked as John nodded at him. "I've heard about that town. The reson why it's called that was because a long time ago, a famous explorer found a large diamond within the ground." Richard suddenly chuckled, "it turns out that he was my great-great-great-great grandfather."

"Oh," John said, "how interesting."

"Great town though, they even have a good hospital which is what people need these days," Richard said as he sat down on the sofa and pulled out his pipe. He light up the pipe, took a deep breath, and let the white smoke escape from his mouth. "Have you seen that hospital?"

"Yes," John said as he walked up to Richard and saw down next to Richard. "As a matter of fact, I am a doctor and I work there."

"Splendid!" Richard shouted, which made John jump in his seat. "We have always thought of marrying our daughter to a doctor."

Before John could speak, two voices were heard entering the living room. John stood up from his seat and looked at Mary and a small fox that was she carrying by the hand. "Let me go!" the little fox snapped as she tried to get out of her mother's grip.

"Oh this one," Mary sighed at the squirming child. "This is our youngest daughter, Arianna," Mary said as she introduced the light orange fox to John.

"How do you do?" John asked her.

"Who are you?" Arianna asked in a rude manner.

"Arianna," Richard said in a warning voice, "manners."

Mary let go of Arianna's hand and she ran to the couch, where she sat down next to Giddy. Mary looked from Giddy and then to John. "Ooh, is that your butler?"

John turned around and looked at Giddy, who was sitting as nicely as he possibly good. "Yes," John answered, "he is."

"Well, you know what we say," Mary said, "if you have a butler, you are richer than the whole town," she added with a smile. "Let me go and get Scarlette. I am sure that you have been waiting to see her." Mary disappeared back upstairs as she went to go and fetch her oldest daughter.

Richard let out a sigh. "Scarlette," he said with a shake of his head, "she has resented every single gentleman that had come to our home. She got rid of the ninth one last week. I don't know what we're going to do with that girl."

"She's really weird," Arianna suddenly spoke up.

"Arianna," Richard said, "what did I just tell you?"

"It's true daddy," Arianna said, "if I were her, I would have accepted the boy right away."

"Sweetie you're ten," Richard told her as if she had forgotten her age.

From upstairs, John heard the conversation between the mother and the daughter. "Oh just look at you," Mary said, "don't let us down now. This is your tenth gentleman caller and you will shame us if you don't accept him just like you didn't accept the others."

"You don't understand," another feminine voice said.

"Honey," Mary said, "someday we are not going to be around for you. We want to make sure that you are taken care of and Mr. Foulfellow seems like the nice gentleman for you. Now just come downstairs and meet him."

The two ladies climbed downstairs and walked into the living room. The young fox next to Mary was Scarlette. She had red colored fur and was wearing a pink dress with a white lace around her neck line and a black strap around her waist. She had her hands clasped together in front of her when she looked at John. A body gesture that showed that she was slightly shy of him.

"Go," Mary whispered as she gave Scarlette a small push towards John.

Scarlette took a step closer at him. The fragrance of the roses his her nose. She peeked over at John and gave him a friendly smile.

John didn't understand why, but he felt nervous all of a sudden. It wasn't because she was fox, and it wasn't because she was pretty. It was the mood of the room that was making him feel under pressure. He felt Mary's, Richard's, Arianna's, Giddy's, and Scarlette's eyes on him, waiting for him to make a move. "These are for you Ms. Scarlette," John finally said as he handed the bouquet of roses to her.

Scarlette took the roses in her hands and looked at them. "Thank you Mr. Foulfellow," Scarlette said, "they are beautiful."

"Oh," Mary gushed as she clasped her hands together. She looked over at Richard that was smiling like a proud father and then at Arianna who was disgusted by the scene and then at Giddy who was lightly clapping for them. "How about some tea?" Mary suddenly said, which broke the tension in the room.


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Pinocchio. I forgot to mention in the last chapter that it was one of my friend's ideas to put John's occupation as being a doctor. The lyrics for "Hi-deedle-dee-dee" were from Disney. wikia.**

* * *

><p>Scarlette and John sat next to each other after Mary walked into the kitchen and rummaged through the cabinets. The two of them neither looked or talked to one another. The living room was quiet and only Richard's breathing could be heard.<p>

"Well," Richard suddenly broke the silence, "say something."

Scarlette looked from her father and then at John. "Hello," she said in a small shy voice as she slowly turned her head and looked away from him.

"Scarlette don't be like that," Richard slightly snapped at her as he looked at his daughter's gesticulation. "Say it loud and proud my dear."

Scarlette felt uncomfortable. She didn't want to upset her parents about this but she didn't feel comfortable enough to talk to John when her father, sister, and John's "butler" were all looking at her. With her last gentlemen callers, she felt them same way as she did right now. Shy and uncomfortable.

"Daddy I don't think she knows the words 'loud' and 'proud.' Pretty unintelligent sometimes if you ask me," Arianna suddenly said.

"Excuse me," Richard said to John and Scarlette as he got up from his seat and went to Arianna. He grabbed her hand and the two of them walked out of the living room and went upstairs.

Scarlette looked at her father and sister walking up the stairs. She slightly shook her head at the thought of her sister's use of words. She could be a real brat sometimes. Now in the living room was just her, John, and the "butler."

"Well," John suddenly said, "you have a very nice family."

Hearing his voice, Scarlette turned her head and looked at him. "Thank you," she managed to say, "what's your family like?"

"My family?" John asked. How would he be able to answer that question when he didn't even know his own parents. "Well, I don't have a family."

"Well how _were_ the like?" Scarlette asked.

_Great_ John thought as he mentally hit his head with his hand. What a question? Something that he couldn't answer without stuttering. "Well um...before I was born my mother was very poor. During those times, the rich were not supposed to marry any poor people."

"Oh its like money marries money," Scarlette jumped in.

"Exactly," John told her, "so one day, my mother was lost and alone, just wandering around to search for something to eat."

"The poor thing," Scarlette said as she put a hand on her mouth. Somehow, this little fictional story was making her become interested in John.

"Then my father, took her in and helped her become better. He decided to marry her and...that's all," he told her.

"So your parents met when they found one another and through help?" Scarlette asked.

John slowly nodded. Was this something that the rich people told one another or was it some other type of story?

"That is one nice and romantic story I have ever heard," Scarlette said as she slowly put the bouqet of roses on the table. "It is as beautiful as those roses."

"It is?" John asked as he raised an eyebrow.

Scarlette sat back down on the couch. "I would say so. It was...different than from what I have been hearing. The gentlemen callers that I have had, always said the same thing. 'My parents got married because of money,' 'My parents met in Paris,' 'My parents met at the beach,' over and over again."

John looked at her in shock. He had expected Scarlette to be snooty and materialistic like her mother and sister but this was another surprise for him. "And you don't like hearing about those?"

"They are okay if you ask me," Scarlette answere, "but hearing it nine times in row is torture. Your story of how your parents met was different and much more romantic than the other idiotic stories I have heard of."

"Well," John said as he gulped, "I'm glad you liked it."

Scarlette looked over John and saw Giddy sitting there and listening to everything. "And is this your butler?" she asked as she saw Giddy looking at her.

"Yes," John said, "one thing about him is that he can't read, write, and talk."

"Not everyone is perfect," Scarlette told him. "When people see us down the street they think that we are perfect."

"Isn't that the purpose of being rich?" John asked her.

Scarlette gave him a surprised look. "What? No!" she snapped which surprised both John and Giddy. "I'm not perfect like everyone thinks I am and neither is my family."

"How come?" John asked her, suddenly becoming interested in her private life.

"The friends of my mother's all have daughters who already have a gentleman caller or are married. I don't. My mother is very jealous of them and she wants me to have a gentleman caller. My sister is an annoying brat and my father can be really dominant sometimes," Scarlette finished talking.

John was silent and his eyes were glued at her. "My family was not perfect either."

"I know," Scarlette said, "no one is perfect but people masquarade themselves by hiding every fault that they have done. It's unfair to the other person."

"Okay, okay," John quickly said as slight sweat began to pool on his forehead. He was doing what Scarlette had said about people pretending to be something they weren't. Good thing he got her to stop talking before he really felt uncomfortale.

By the doorway of the living room, Mary walked inside the room with a tray that held five cups of tea and small plates filled with dessert. When Giddy saw the sweet food, he couldn't help but drool as the sweet food was set down on the table. "Ooh my dear," Mary said as she looked at Giddy, "someone is very hungry today."

John hit Giddy's arm with his elbow. Giddy quickly corrected his mistake by closing his mouth.

"I heard talking while I was in the kitchen," Mary said as she poured the hot tea into the tea cups, "pretty exciting." When she poured the tea on the last cup, she looked around from Richard and Arianna who were not in the room yet. "Oh dear," Mary said as she put down the tea cup on the table and went upstairs.

Scarlette shook her head when her mother left. "Even when I talk to men she gets excited."

"Isn't that what a mother should do?" John asked her.

Scarlette looked down at her paws and played with her fingers, "but not everytime I talk to man."

"I wished that my mother was around," John mumbled. Then he wouldn't be the fox he really was. He suddenly began to imagine how his life would be like. He wouldn't be a conman and he would be loved by his mother like a child would.

"Do you have any talents?" Scarlette suddenly asked him.

John thought about that. The only talent he had was conning people and singing. "I can sing," John told her.

"The others didn't have that talent," Scarlette told him.

"Well then you're in luck my dear," John told her, "because this fox can sing."

"Would you mind singing something for me then?" Scarlette asked as a smile grew on her lips.

"Giddy," John said to him as Giddy picked up his black cane and put it against his lips and pretended that it was a flute. John got up from the couch and cleared his throat.

_Come on to the theater_

_Hi-deedlle-dee-dee_

_An actor's life for me_

_A high silk hat and a silver cane_

_A watch of gold with a diamond chain_

_Hi-deedle-dee-day an actor's life is gay_

_It's great to be a celebirty_

_An actor's life for me_

When he began to sing, he suddenly began to dance. He skipped over to Scarlette and grabbed her paws and lifted her up from her seat. As he was humming the tune, he put his paw on Scarlette's waist and they two began to dance.

_Hi-deedle-dee-dum, an actor's life is fun_

"I have got to say Mr. Foulfellow," Scarlette said, "you are an amazing dancer and singer."

"I'm full of surprises my dear," John said.

_An actor's life for me_

_Hi-deedle-dee-dee_

_An actor's life for me_

_A waxed moustache and a beaver coat_

_A pony cart and a billy goat_

_Hi-deedle-dee-dum, an actor''s life is fun_

_You wear you hair in a pompadour _

_You ride aroound in a coach of four_

_You stop and buy out a candy store_

_An actor's life for me!_

Giddy jumped in place as he switched his feet whenever he jumped. He twirled in the air and winded up getting dizzy and then falling on the floor. John and Scarlette ignored him and just kept on dancing.

_Hi-deedle-dee-dee _

_An actor's life for me_

_A high silk hat and a silver cane_

_A watch of gold with a diamond chain_

_Hi-deedle-dee-day an actor's life is gay_

_It's great to be a celebirty_

_An actor's life for me_

He raised up his arm and Scarlette twirled. When she twirled, John put his hand on her waist and pulled her closer and the two started their dance all over again.

_Hi-deedle-dee-dee_

_An actor's life for me_

_A high silk hat and a silver chain_

_A watch of gold with a diamond chain_

_Hi-deedle-dee-doo_

_You sleep 'til after two_

_It's great to be a celebirty_

_An actor's life for me_

_Hi-deedle-dee-dum, an actor's life is fun_

_With clothes that come from the finest shop, and lots of peanuts and soda pop_

_Hi-deedle-dee-doo _

_You sleep till after rwo_

_It's great to be a celebirty_

_An actor's life for me_

John kept a hold on Scarlette's left paw and then she twirled at him and he grabbed her other paw with his.

"What if you're allergic to peanuts?" a voice was heard by the living room.

John and Scarlette quickly let go of each other and then looked at who was by the doorway. Arianna was the one that had asked the question and Richard and Mary were standing there as quiet as possible as they looked at the whole scene. Mary was trying to control her inner excitement while Richard stood there as calmy as possible with his hands behind his back.

"Scarlette you were dancing with him!" Mary squealed as she skipped over to her daughter and kissed her forhead.

"A doctor and a singer," Richard said as he nodded at John, "how exquisite."

"You're a doctor?" Mary asked as she looked at John. "What a coincidence!" she said as she put a hand on her furry cheek. "A couple of days ago, my little Arianna was not feeling well. She had red blotches all over her face and had trouble breathing. Do you think she is okay right now?" Mary asked as she softly pushed Arianna closer to John.

John looked down at the little girl. Great! Now they wanted him to check-up their daughter. Just great! "I can't do a proper check-up without my doctor things," John said with the lack of using the proper word.

"Surely you can do something," Mary insited.

"Well," John slowly said as he reached out his paw and touched Arianna's forehead. He felt the warmth of Arianna's forehead hitting his paw. How was he able to tell whether she was fine or not?

"Mother," Scarlette said as she walked up to John. "Arianna was fine last night."

John let out a sigh of relief as he moved his hand away from Arianna's forehead. He was about to thank Scarlette but Mary insisted that they finished their afternoon tea. When they sat down, Mary fussed over on how cold the tea was. She asked John about five times if she wanted to make him another tea. For the fifth time and with the last nerve he had, John kept his cool down and said no.

Giddy gabbed every dessert that he could lay his paws on. He took one and gulped it down instantly as if Scarlette, Arianna, John, Mary, and Richard were eating them.

"You're butler has got the appetite Mr. Foulfellow," Scarlette told him.

"Please call my John," John told her, "and yes he does," he said as he fought the urge to hit him with his cane.

"John," Scarlette said.

"Scarlette," John said as they two looked at one another.

Mary, who was sitting next to Richard, smiled at them. "Ooh just wait until their married."

"MARRIED?" John and Scarlette said in unison as they looked at Mary.

"Yuck," Arianna mumbled and made a face at that word.

"Sure sweetheart why not?" Mary asked her, "the sooner the better right?"

Scarlette let out a sigh as she put her paw over her eyes. "Its too soon mother. I just met him today."

"What do you think Mr. Foulfellow?" Richard suddenly asked him as he looked over at John.

John fought the urge to look away from Richard. That stern look on his face gave him worse chills than the Coachman's smile. "I will think about it," John suddenly answered.

"Oh," Mary sadly said as if that indicated that John was not going to marry her daughter.

"After all, I just met her today," John said as he took a sip from his tea.

"Are you going to come tomorrow again?" Mary asked him, "maybe for dinner or taking our daughter out for dinner or something?"

Richard put his paw on Mary's to silence her. He felt that Mary was fussing to much about this situation and it was starting to annoy him. "Let's just give him some time to gather himself and he will call us, won't you?" he asked John.

"O-of course," John said. "Well," he said as he put his tea cup on the table and got up, "it was nice meeting you and Scarlette," he said as he nodded over at Richard, Mary, and Arianna and lastly at Scarlette.

Mary and Richard got up from their seat as they led John and Giddy out the door. "It was nice meeting you two Mr. Foulfellow," Mary said when they were to the door. She leaned in closer and whispered in his ear, "I think she likes you."

John nodded to her and then walked away from the home. He looked back as the door shut behind him.

* * *

><p><strong>~Scarlette's POV~<strong>

I picked up one of the roses from the bouquet that John had bought. I start to twirl it around as the petals from the plump rose stay glued to the stem. I take the flower and bring it close to my nose and sniff at the fragrance of the rose. It smelled wonderful, like John. Oh my! I think he could be the one for me. Is he? Oh I don't know! He did seem like the right fox for me. Oh please let it be him, so I can get out of this home. Let it be him so my sister wouldn't tease me again. Let it be him so I can make my parent's proud.

I hear my parents talking. I get up from the couch and run up the stairs and enter my room. This is my only place where I can leave reality and enter my own world. I lay down on my bed and close my eyes and begin to think about him.

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><p><strong>~John's POV~<strong>

What was all this? I feel much more better now outside than being in that house. No, I was fine when I was with Scarlette. I had a good time dancing with her. She seemed to enjoy my dancing and singing and I did too. When her parents came to, I felt really uncomfortable. The girl is okay but her mother, father, and sister are not. How will I be able to impress her so she can marry me, when I can't be as comfortable around her when her parents are around? How will I be able to complete the Coachman's desire when I know that I cannot even do it?

What have I gotten myself into?


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Pinocchio**

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><p><em>I think she likes you <em>Mary's voice kept repeating itself in his mind. John slightly groaned as he put his paws on his head from the headache that he was getting. So what if Scarlette liked him? That didn't mean that John had to like her back. Or did it? During his visit with Scarlette that was hours ago, her image never left his mind. Her smooth, silky voice spoke in his mind and her lucious chocolate eyes kept appearing in front of him.

John didn't believe in love after what he had seen from his parents. His parents were both poor foxes who had no such luck in finding a job to support their family. With the lack of work, this led to a very bad turn of events. His mother stopped caring about the family and left because she had found another lover. John's father was thrown in jail for murder that he had committed. It was all because from the lack of money that they had. After his father's arrest, John had been alone but he had hope that his parents would one day return. The next day, after his father's arrest, news spread out that they killed him because of the crime.

This news did not sadden John, it infuriated him. He had thought about his mother leaving him because she hated him. His father was arrested and killed just to get away from him. At the end of his childhood, John had grown up unloved. One day when he was outside of his home and searching for food on the street. A large man that wore a red suit and black leather boots had approached him and taken him to his tavern. To John's childhood view, this man was a very scary to him. He hated the malicious smile that the man always had on his face when something unpleasant pleased him. That smile sent chills down John's spine, even to this day.

He kicked a small rock with his shoe and saw it tumbled away through the pavement. The hot sun grilled his fur as him and Giddy walked away from the hot sun and entered a cafe. "This is much better," John said as he took off his black tux and put it on the chair behind him. He and Giddy sat down on the chairs and listened to the people that were talking since there was nothing better for them to do.

"Did you hear?" a man with a white mustache said to one of his friends. "The Howards left for a month."

"Where?" a blond woman with fat curly hair asked as she sipped on her cup of coffee.

"Hawaii. They have a house there," the man told her.

"Some people have all the luck," the woman groaned, "they go on vacation and we are stuck here doing nothing," she added as she rolled her eyes.

"True," the man said as he folded his hands on the table, "they are the richest family in all of Diamond Street," the man added.

"Oh everyone knows that," the woman said as she swiped her hand in the air out of pure jealousy for the rich family.

_Diamond Street_? John thought at the word. That was the street that Richard had mentioned to him. Since the family was away for a whole month, John was going to use that house for his own advantage until the Coachman's plan was complete...if he managed to do it that is.

"Come on Giddy," John said to the cat as he took his black coat and put it on, "we have a rich house to find."

Giddy jumped up from his seat and the two conmen left the cafe, in search for the house.

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><p>John and Giddy had no trouble finding the street. Coincidentally, it was right across from the cafe. John and Giddy walked into the street. As they did, they saw more rich people that were more snootier than the ones on Moonlight Valley.<p>

"Now where could that house be?" John asked as he looked at the houses that were around the street. He saw a rather chubby man walking down the street with his cane, enjoying the beautiful afternoon. "Excuse me my dear sir," John said as he walked up to the man and touched his arm to stop him, "can you tell me the number of the house where the Howards live in?"

The man looked at John and rubbed his chin with his hand. "Who might you be might I ask?" the man asked him as his small brown mustache twitched.

"I am a friend of his," John said as he tipped his hat to the man. "Alexander the Fourth," John said as he gave the man a sly smirk.

"So there were three Alexander's before you?" the man asked him.

"Yes siree," John said as he raised an eyebrow at his choice of words, "my great-grandfather was the first, my father the second, my uncle the third, and I am he fourth."

"So you are a fox named Alexander that happens to be the friend of Mr. Howard," the man said as he gathered all of the faux information that John had given him, "how come I have never heard of you before?"

"Because I don't live around here," John answered him.

"And you want to know where his house is because...?" the man continued to question him as if he was the police comissioner and he was the criminal.

"Because he gave me a job to keep it clean," John told him.

"But he has a maid."

"She got fired."

"How?"

"For trying to poison Mr. Howard and his family. Now," John said as he took a look at his pocket watch, "I am running behind scheduel from your constant questioning. Tell me the number to Mr. Howard's home," John said as he folded his arms across his chest and tapped his finger on his arm.

"Someone is a little impatient," the man said as he twirled his cane in his hand.

"Well the afternoon does not last forever now does it?" John said.

"Of course not," the man said as he shook his head, "his house number is house number-oops," the man said as he dropped his cane on the ground.

Giddy, who was standing right next to him, pulled the man's pocket with his cane and took out a handful of money and hid them within his clothes.

The man, who was too occupied to notice his money getting stolen, straightened his back and said, "thirteen."

"Thank you," John said as he tipped his hat to him again, "come along Giddy," he said to him as the two of them proceeded to find the house.

"Giddy?" the man said as he looked at the cat, "hmph! What a name." He walked away.

* * *

><p>"There it is," John said as he pointed to a white Victorian style house. John walked up to the gate and opened it. Good thing that it was open because John didn't have any special objects to open up the lock. The two of them entered inside the property and Giddy shut the gate behind them.<p>

The propety was well kept. The green grass was colored with a lot of flowers and there were vases of other flowers perching on the porch of the house. John ran up to the house and turned the knob. However, the door was locked. He tried to open the windows but they were locked too.

"Giddy," he said to him, "look around the house and see if there is a secret door somewhere."

Giddy enthusiastically nodded as he jumped off the porch and ran around the property to search for a secret door. There was a door behind the house itself, but that was locked too. Giddy scratched the top of his head. He took his cane and nudged it between the door. He wiggled the cane around and pushed it down. The cane shot upp from the ground and it hit Giddy on the stomach as he flew backwards and fell to the ground on his back. Giddy shook his head.

Suddenly, John walked to the back of the house and saw what had happened. "We are trying to get in the house, not to destroy it," John said as he took the cane away from the door and threw it at Giddy who caught it in his paws. John looked around for another door. Then he saw a blue-green door that was resting against the side of the house. John bent down and pulled on the door. Luckily, that door was open.

"Come on," John said to Giddy as he jumped inside and Giddy followed after him. This door led down to the basement. The basement was dark and Giddy did not like that very much. Once he entered the dark room, he clung himself onto John and didn't let go.

John stopped walking, let out a sigh, and rolled his eyes. "Giddy let go now," he said as he tried to pull Giddy off of him. Being frightened of the dark, Giddy clung himself onto John like glue. With one last pull, John managed to pull him off. John proceeded up the stairs and to a door. He opened the door and there was a whole new surrounding. John's jaw dropped as he looked at the luxurious furnitire that surrounded the home. The man at the cafe was not kidding. These Howard people were filthy rich.

When Giddy finally arrived to the top of the stairs, the shimmering objects caught his eyes. Those bright crystal menageries made him thirsty. He ran towards them with his paws out in front of him. "GIDDY!" John yelled and Giddy stopped before he could touch them.

"Don't touch anything," John warned him, "we'll get them later after we finish the Coachman's plan."

Giddy looked from John and then at the crystal menageries, giving them a small pout.

John collapsed on a leather sofa as he let out a sigh of relief. They had found a house, they had stolen money, and the lovely maiden had fallen in his trap. Speaking of the lovely maiden, his mind had been rewinding to their visit. John had never met anymore before who had a different opinion of her surroundings. A lady who wanted her parents to be proud of her. John took out the slip of paper that had the family's phone number on it. Maybe he should call her. Just to let her know where he was and all of that if she ever wanted to visit his "home."

He took the telephone in his paws and dialed her number. The operator spoke to him and connected him to the Vixington's. John waited for her voice to speak to him.

"Hello?" a breathless voice said.

"Scarlette?" John said as he raised an eyebrow at the sound of her breathless voice.

"John?" Scarlette asked as she tried to catch her breath.

"Are you alright?" John asked her, "you sound like you have seen a ghost."

"Oh no," Scarlette said as she added a laugh after, "I ran to my bedroom to catch the phone."

A slight smile formed on John's lips. "You knew that it was me."

"Oh I had a feeling that you were going to call me," she said.

"Well I had a great time meeting you," John told her.

"So did I," Scarlette said. She took a deep breath and then let it out. "I have to say, that when you left, I couldn't stop thinking about you."

John's eyes widened when she said that. He felt himself slightly blushing as if Scarlette was right in front of him. "Well...that's something new I have heard before."

"I am glad," Scarlette said, "I have never said such a thing to those other idiots before."

"Uh-huh," John nervously said. His hand was shaking as he tried his best to hold onto the phone. Now he hated himself for doing this. Why did she have to like him? He was going to feel guilty for killing her now!

"Look," Scarlette said, "I would like to come over and meet you again. Just the two of us with no parents and no sister around."

John let out a sigh. _Good_ he thought. _They made me feel really nervous_. "Sure. You are welcome to come anytime."

"Okay," Scarlette said, "where do you live?"

"How about I come and pick you up?" John suggested, "that way, your parents will know where you're going and with whom you're going with."

"You don't have to be so overprotective," Scarlette told him. She had suffered enough of that from her parents.

"Sorry," John said as he held a paw in the air, "I just don't want your father's paws wrapped around my throat." He hit his head with his paw when he said that.

However, Scarlette only laughed. "My father's first impression has frightened you right?"

"Yes," John simply answered.

"He has been like that when he saw my first gentleman caller," Scarlette told him. "I don't think anything amuses father."

_You think?_ John thought but he avoided saying that to her. At least Richard had no clue that it was John and Giddy who were on his porch during the nighttime about a day ago.

"Anyway," Scarlette continued, "thank you for letting me come and visit."

"You're welcome my dear," John said, "well until tomorrow then."

"Alright," Scarlette smiled, "see you tomorrow. Bye."

"Good bye," John said as he shut the phone. He rubbed his temple with his paws as he soothed the mild headache that was beginning to get worse and worse. Now he had to train Giddy to act like a proper butler to Scarlette so he could impress her some more. He pulled out the black gun from his pocket and looked at it.

_It's not worth it_ he thought.

* * *

><p>Scarlette smiled to herself when she put the phone back on the reciever. She liked hearing his smooth voice. It sounded sweet and it was music to her ears. <em>He's the one for me<em> she thought. _Finally_. A jumping feeling began to form in her stomach as it made her feel all happy and giddy on the inside. She put her paw on her stomach to try to control it but it was no use. That happy feeling rushed through her. At least someone loved her.

"Who were you talking to?" a deep voice asked as it opened her bedroom door.

Scarlette gaspd as she turned around and saw her father standing by the doorway. "Hello daddy," Scarlette said as she got up from her bed and looked at him, "I was only talking with John. He called and-"

Richard interrupted her as he held his paw in the air. "How many times have I told you that the longer you talk on the phone, the more money we have to pay on the bills."

_Why not? We're rich aren't we? _Scarlette thought at her father's words. "I am sorry," she said as she looked at her floor as if she was a child.

Richard walked up to her bed and confescated her phone from the night stand. "I am taking this downstairs, until you learn not to talk too much on the phone." As he was about to leave her room, he looked at her table where he saw pieces of white paper scattered upon her desk and a pencil resting on them. "What's this?" he asked as he picked up a piece of paper that had a picture of a rose that she had drawn.

"That's a rose," Scarlette said as she put her hands behind her back, "like the ones that John gave me. Do you like it?" she innocently asked.

"Hmph," Richard grunted as he kept looking at the paper. He threw it on the table as if it was a piece of rag. "Young ladies like you are sewing at hom or cooking for their husbands. They are not drawing stupid pictures like you're doing."

Scarlette took a step back when he said that. "But I don't have a husband," she said.

Richard stopped by the door way and his shoulders seemed to lift. He slowly turned around and appraoched his daughter. Scarlette took a couple of steps back until her back was pinned against the wall. She flinched as her father put his paw against the wall and glared at her. "Then find one," he said in a harsh voice, "you have embarassed you mother and me enough. We don't need anymore of your stupid nonesense from you girl," he said to her.

Scarlette's eyes looked down on the ground. "Look at me," his voice rang through her ears and she did. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Scarlette nodded at him. As Richard moved away from her Scarlette couldn't resist but ask this question. "Dad, do you hate me?"

Richard stopped in his tracks again. He turned around and glared at his daughter again.

"I'm sorry," Scarlette said as she folded her paws in front of her. "I didn't mean to make you mad." She gasped as she suddenly found herself on the ground. She looked up from the floor and then at her father who was towering over her, with the same angry expression on his face.

"Don't let me hear you say that again?" Richard told her as he finally left her bedroom, leaving her there.

Scarlette put a paw on her searing cheek as she tried to get up from the floor. She sat down on her bed and looked at the glass window that was allowing the sun's rays to enter through. Salty water filled up in her eyes and made its wat down her cheek. She put her hands on her eyes and weeped in silence.


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't own Pinocchio**

* * *

><p>The sun rose in the neighborhood as the sun's rays leaked through the windows of the master bedroom. John had used the king sized bed to his advantage. He was sprawled out on the bed as the pillow rested on the right side of the bed. The heavy blankets wrapped around his body as he let their warmth cover his body. He covered his head with the blankets when the sun's rays hit his eyes. He groaned as he turned to his side.<p>

On the floor, Giddy got up from the floor and let out a yawn followed by a stretch. He picked up the pillow that lay by his feet and squeezed it to feel the softness from the feathers. He liked the soft feeling from the pillow. He looked over at the bed as he saw John's chest heaving up and down from his breathing. A mischievous smile spread across his lips as he looked over at the pillow and then at John. He knew that there were going to be consequences following his action but hey, why not have a little fun for a chance? He threw the pillow over at John with such a force, which made John shot up in bed. Giddy escaped from the room as soon as possible before John got his hands on him.

"What?" John said as he looked around the room, confused. He looked over at the time that read eleven thirty in the morning. "Oh no!" he shouted as he jumped out of bed and got ready to start the day.

He quickly got ready and jumped into his tuxedo so he was ready to get Scarlette in the afternoon. One strange thing that he found out about last night was that he didn't have a dream about Scarlette. He found that peculiar. He had thought that when a person has feelings for another, then they have dreams about them. John didn't have a dream about Scarlette which, to his conclusion, means that he didn't like her? John shrugged off the hypothesis in his mind and walked downstairs and went to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Giddy had his head stuck into the refrigerator as he looked at the delectable foods that were resting there. His mouth drooled as he reached out and grabbed a chicken leg and ate it. It was a peculiar type of breakfast but if you're hungry eat what you can. After his tummy was satisfied with the chicken, he looked at a slice of cake that was right next to a bottle of milk. The cake was heavily decorated with frosting and Giddy couldn't resist but to stuff that whole sweet dessert in his mouth. He heard John's footsteps walking down the stairs. He took the plate out of the fridge and stuffed the cake into his mouth. He swiped his arm over his mouth to get rid of evidence. He put the empty plate in the fridge and stood there, smiling innocently with his hands in his pockets.

"Good morning Giddy," John said once he approached the kitchen.

Giddy smile as he tipped his hat at him. He looked at his sleeve and saw that the white frosting was there. Panicking, he ran over to the sink and turned on the faucet. The cold water soaked his sleeve as the white frosting slowly came off. He took a towel from a drawer and ferociously wiped his dirty sleeve with it. He looked back at John, hoping that he hadn't seen it. John however, was busy talking on the phone.

"Yes," John said as he held the phone to his ear, "I will be there at twelve sharp sir," he said. He was talking with Richard and that made him nervous.

"And don't you do anything funny with my daughter," Richard warned him.

John raised an eyebrow at Richard's words. "What do you mean?"

"Oh you know very well what I mean, John," Richard snapped at him, "and I want her home at two o'clock sharp or the earlier the better."

"O-okay," John said, "sure."

"Have a good afternoon," Richard said as he hung up.

"Sheesh," John said as he put the phone on the receiver. What a man? John wondered how Scarlette and her mother and sister put up with him. Scarlette wasn't kidding when she said that he was dominant the other day. "Giddy!" John yelled to the kitchen.

Giddy ran to the living room. He hid his wet arm behind his back as he looked at John. "Get the automobile ready. We're going to Scarlette's house," John said as he threw Giddy the keys that were resting by the telephone.

Giddy caught the keys and he ran out to the automobile. When he got to the automobile, he had no idea where the key was supposed to put the key. He scratched his head as he looked at the key. He poke the rear view mirror with the key as if it was supposed to go there. That didn't work. He put the key on the automobile's lock and it fit there perfectly. Maybe that's where it was supposed to go. He crossed his arms over his chest with satisfaction and waited for John.

John walked out of the house and to the automobile. Giddy, who was sitting in the front seat of the car, waved at him. John opened the door to the driver's seat and saw that the key was not in the ignition but on the car's door. "Stupid," John snapped, "the key goes in here," he said as he put the key in the ignition and turned it on. "Use that little thing in your head that we all call a brain," he said as he tapped Giddy's head lightly with his cane. He put the cane between his legs and looked at the steering wheel. He looked over to Giddy and asked, "do you know how to drive?"

Giddy only shrugged at him.

"Well," John said as he put his hands on the steering wheel, "there's a first time for everything." He said as he stepped on the paddle and the car accelerated down the road. "Whoa! Slow down, slow down!" John yelled as he quickly stepped on the paddle again and the car stopped. Him and Giddy slumped forward in the car as their heart rates increased. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea," John said. He lightly stepped on the paddle and the car began to move slowly. "Okay, okay," John breathed, "this is a good speed."

Suddenly, a car honked behind them. "Move it, let's go!" a man yelled behind him.

John looked back and saw that an angry driver was glaring at him and honking the horn at the same time. "Sheesh be patient," John said as he ignored the man's complaints and continued down the road at the speed that he was going.

Annoyed, the driver passed John and headed down the road in full speed. John continued down the road to Scarlette's house.

* * *

><p>"Put these on," Mary delightfully said as she took a stash of jewelry from her jewelry box and walked over to Scarlette. She put on four gold bracelets on Scarlette's wrists, a fancy necklace around her neck, rings on her fingers, and earrings on her ears. Mary stepped back and looked at her daughter. "These's something missing," Mary said as she tapped her chin with her finger. "Wait," she said as she walked over to the closet and picked out a stash of clothes.<p>

Scarlette was wearing a red dress and was covered in lots of jewelry that Mary had dressed her up with. "Mother I think I'm fine with just this," she said as she picked up her dress.

"Oh nonsense darling," Mary said, "a lady shows her charm to a gentleman by her looks. That's how I got your father," she said as she pulled on a scarf. She walked over to Scarlette and wrapped the black scarf around her neck. She also took a big blue hat with a pink flower that was glued to its side and put it on her head. She took arm length white gloves and put them on Scarlette's arms. "And one more thing," Mary said as she pulled a mink coat from the closet and wrapped it around Scarlette. "That should do it. Oh he is not going to recognize you."

"Well I don't think he can see me in this outfit," Scarlette said.

"My," Mary said as she put a hand on her chest, "you have quite an attitude today. That's something that a lady should not have. You would never attract a man that way. That's how all the other gentlemen had left you."

"It wasn't my attitude mother," Scarlette protested, "it was theirs. I didn't like their attitude. They were stuck-up, snobby, rich men that had nothing better to do in their lives but just brag all day at all the wonderful things they had done."

"Well at least thi gentleman looks promising," Mary said, "which he should be here any minute now." The two women walked downstairs and waited in the living room while they waited for John to arrive.

"What happened to you?" Arianna asked Scarlette as she looked at her outfit. "Did you get into a fight with your clothes."

"Oh be quiet," Scarlette said as she rolled her eyes to her sister.

"Hmmm," Arianna said as she stuck out her tongue at Scarlette.

Scarlette looked at her sister and didn't say anything. She was used to this kind of attitude from her sister. Then again, Arianna had an excuse to do that. That was her way of being cute to her parents but to Scarlette, she was just being mean.

"Now Arianna," Mary said in a cold tone, "do you want another spanking?"

"No mother," Arianna said as she clasped her hands in front of her and smiled innocently at Scarlette. "I'm just being a cute little thing. Scarlette knows that I'm joking right?"

"Whatever you say," Scarlette said.

Suddenly, Richard walked into the room. He was looking at the time on his pocket watch. "He was supposed to be here a minute ago," he said as he put his pocket watch back into his pocket.

"Oh stop being so exact on time Richard," Mary told him. "He could be running late because of traffic."

"Don't give me reasons as to why he is late," Richard said to her in a cold tone. Mary retreated from her talking and looked down at her hands. "What are we going to have for dinner today?" he asked as he looked back at Mary.

"I don't know," Mary said, "I haven't decided yet."

"Ice cream," Arianna suggested.

"No," Richard told her, "we are not eating anymore sweets remember."

"But Richard-" Mary said.

"What?" Richard snapped at her, "are you saying that we should kill ourselves and our children with sweets? Use your head Mary."

Scarlette stared at her father. She couldn't believe that he was acting like this to her mother. What was going on with him?

"What are you staring at?" Richard snapped as he looked at Scarlette.

"Nothing," she said as she turned her head to the left and looked away from him.

"Look," Richard said as he raised his index finger at her. As he was about to open his mouth to say something to her, a car pulled up in the driveway and there was the sound of a car horn.

"That's him," Mary said as she got up from her seat and walked over to the door with Scarlette. Mary anticipated of getting Scarlette out of the house as soon as possible. She couldn't bear the tension that was in the living room. "Oh dear he's there," Mary said as she put a hand on her cheek. "Go and have fun with him. If you want to propose to him, don't take 'no' for an answer," Mary said as she pushed Scarlette out the door.

Scarlette looked back at her mother who waved at her to go. Scarlette walked down the steps and walked towards John's "automobile." She saw Giddy climbing to the back seat of the car and John smiling at her. Scarlette smiled back as she got into the car and they drove away.

Mary closed the door. She turned around and saw Richard standing in front of the door. "I am so sorry," Mary quickly said before anything happened to her. "I shouldn't have said that to you."

"You had no right to question my house rules," Richard told her.

"I didn't!" Mary said.

"You were about to!" Richard said as he got closer to her face. "Just watch it next time."

"Why don't you?" Mary said to him, "why don't you watch your own attitude towards your oldest daughter? Did you see the way she looked when you asked her what she was staring at?"

"Of course I did, I am not blind," Richard said.

"I think you are," Mary said as she pushed past him.

Richard lashed out his hand and grabbed Mary's wrist and pulled her towards him. "I suggest you watch that tongue of yours. It might get cut off if you don't watch what you say."

Mary shook her wrist free from his grip. "What are you going to do?" she dared to ask him. "Throughout our whole marriage, you have always been threatening me. You are ruining your relationship with Scarlette. She looked up to you when she was a child and now you are just pushing her away. If this keeps on happening, I might as well file for a divorce," she said as she pulled the ring off her finger and threw it on the ground.

"Why you selfish, little-" Richard said as he raised his hand in the air. Mary ducked just in time. She turned around on her heel and ran out of the room with Richard right after her. "Get back here!" Richard yelled.

Mary opened the door to their room and threw herself inside. She closed the door and locked herself in the room. She staggered over to the bed and sat there. She flinched when she heard Richard's enraged hand banging down on the white door.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure you're Scarlette?" John joked as he looked at Scarlette that was covered in the layers of jewelry and clothes.<p>

"I will be as soon as I get these off of me," Scarlette said as she took off the mink coat and threw it on the backseat. She took off her hat and jewelry and she put the jewelry in the hat and threw the hat in the backseat.

Giddy took the hat in his hands and smiled when he saw the jewelry there. He reached inside and pulled the jewelry out of the hat and put them in his pockets.

"Now I'm here," Scarlette said. "I was dying in those clothes."

"I would say so," John said, "its really hot today."

"Yes it is," Scarlette said. "Did you enjoy our rendez-vous yesterday?"

John turned his head and looked at her when she said that. _What in the world is a rendez-vous?_ John thought. "Our what now?" he asked her.

"Get together," she clarified for him.

"Oh," John said, "yeah I liked it. It was nice getting to know you and your family."

"They are really interesting," Scarlette said with sarcasm, "but I just like being with you. Alone. With no parents around."

"To tell you the truth," John said, "I felt nervous when your parents were around you. I felt as if I was going to do something wrong and ruin everything."

"I would say you did well," Scarlette said. "Those roses were simply gorgeous and I have kept them in my room. When I look at them, you always come to my mind."

John nervously chuckled. Sweet sayings that he had never got in his childhood years.

Scarlette looked at him when he laughed. "You sound kind of nervous. Is everything alright?"

"Hm?" John asked her, "oh yeah, everything is fine. I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night and I am kind of distracted right now."

"Oh," Scarlette said, "were you thinking about me?"

"Of course," John lied. It wasn't technically a lie because he was thinking about her when he broke into the house but during the nighttime, Scarlette never crossed his mind.

Scarlette blushed when he said that. "Me too. Everyday."

John pulled up into the driveway of the house. "Well here we are," he said as he got out of his car and Scarlette and Giddy followed.

"Oh it's big," Scarlette said as she looked at the size of the house. "Bigger than my family's."

"Wait until you see the inside," John said as they entered inside the house. When Scarlette stepped inside, she felt as if she was stepping into another rich house. There were fancy furniture that every rich person had. "I thought your house was going to be different."

"How so?" John asked as he hung up his coat and hat on a hanger that was in the hall.

"Well, I would say less sophisticated and such," Scarlette said.

"Well when your father leaves the house to you, what can you do?" John said.

"If my father did such a gift for me I would not accept it," Scarlette said.

"Why not?" John asked as he led her to the living room. The two of them sat down next to each other on a couch.

"He has been kind of mean to me lately," Scarlette told him. She had a feeling about John that she could trust him in what she was about to say to him. "Him and my mother have been rushing me to get married because all of their friend's daughters are already married or they have boyfriends. So they are rushing me to get ahead of them. I don't want to compete."

"Well do you like having a boyfriend?" John asked her.

"I think its nice," Scarlette shrugged a little, "you have someone that you can talk to. Have you been a gentleman caller in the past?"

"No," John told her, "this is my first time."

"And this is my first time liking a gentleman caller," Scarlette smiled at him.

"Its love at first sight is it not?" John asked as he put his arm around Scarlette's shoulders.

Scarlette's facial features changed. Her smile faltered into a straight line and her cheeks begin to blush. "Are you saying that you're in love with me?"

That question surprised John. Had he said something that he shouldn't have said. He remembered the Coachman's plan but he could bring himself to kill this innocent girl let alone the affect that it would have on him after he did it.

"Are you?" Scarlette asked again. Her eyes looked like as if they were pleading for him to say yes.

"Yes I am," John suddenly said. "Are you?"

Scarlette felt as if her breath was caught in her throat. She couldn't control the butterflies in her stomach. She wanted to jump in the air and cartwheel in the living room. She wasn't a gymnastics type of girl but all she wanted to do right now was jump in the air. Not because John loved her but because she was going to get away from home and live her life with someone that loved her.

"Yes I am!" she squealed as she threw her arms around John's neck and hugged him. She looked at him in the eyes and kissed him on the lips.

Giddy walked into the living room, carrying a tray that had a plate of chocolates and two glasses of water. When he saw Scarlette and John kissing, his jaw dropped and the tray fell on the floor.

The crash scared Scarlette as she pulled away from John and looked at Giddy. "Pick that up Giddy!" he yelled at the cat.

Giddy looked at John and pointed at his cheeks where John was blushing. He began to laugh as he pointed at John. John picked up the cane that was resting next to him and he threw it across the room and it hit Giddy on the face. Giddy got up from the ground and ran into the other room.

"My," Scarlette said, "I have never seen a rich person acting like that before."

"Oh I'm full of surprises," John said. _And other things that might surprise you _he thought.


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't own Pinocchio**

* * *

><p>After their second meeting, John took Scarlette back home. On their way to the dame's house, John was debating whether to go on another date with her. It did seem like a good idea but then he was too afraid that she might want to be with him and then that would ruin the Coachman's evil scheme. He was ready to do it, but something kept him away from doing it and he knew what it was. He just couldn't kill her.<p>

"How about tomorrow?" he asked Scarlette.

"What about tomorrow?" Scarlette asked as she turned her head and looked at John.

"On another date," he told her, "at a restaurant. Don't worry, I will pay for everything." _Sure I will _John said sarcastically. _I don't have any __money! _

"We were on a date today?" Scarlette asked as she looked at him.

John tore his eyes away from the road and looked at Scarlette. He slowly nodded to her, followed by a "uh-huh."

"Oh you sly fox," Scarlette said as she let out a light giggle.

John's hands gripped on the steering wheel when she said the word 'sly.' _Yeah that's what I am. I am your everyday fox. Nice and sly _he thought as he stepped down on the paddle and the car accelerated.

The hat that was resting on Scarlette's lap flew into the air and fell on the road. She turned her head and looked behind the car and saw the hat getting run over by a car. "Oh mother is not going to be happy about that," she muttered. "Oh well, the whole thing was old anyway."

"I apologize," John said as he lowered the speed on the car.

"Don't be," Scarlette said, "my mother would just ignore the incident and she would go out and buy another one. That and practically the whole store."

"Your mother likes to shop?" John asked.

"She's addicted to shopping just as much as finding a husband for me," she said with a shake of her head. "She thinks that you look like a promising gentleman for me. This is the first time that I agree with her."

John's lips curved into a smile. _I look promising eh? _he thought. This was a new experience for him. He had easily won the girl over and she was flirting with him. Not that didn't like it or anything. It was good to have someone around to like him. Especially when that someone was a young vixen that liked him. "And you look promising as well. I like a girl with a nice personality."

"And I like a man who is different. Not a rich snob," Scarlette said with a shake of her head. Her eyes traveled down to the stereo of the car and looked at them time. "Ooh," she said as she looked at the clock. It said three o'clock.

"What's wrong?" John asked her.

"I was supposed to be home an hour ago," Scarlette said, "time got away from us huh?"

John wanted to bang his head on the steering wheel. Great, his chance to impress Mr. Vixington was ruined just because of the time. Oh he was never going to hear the end of this conversation. Not to mention that it would be embarrassing for John to get yelled at by the girl's father just because he bought her home late. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset your father."

"He'll get over it and live," Scarlette said with no sense of emotion. _Why is he butting into my life? _she thought of her father. _Just leave me alone already!_

"Well here we are," John said as he stopped in the driveway of her home. He got out of the car and opened Scarlette's door for her.

"You didn't have to do that," Scarlette said as she got out of the car and grabbed John's hand.

"Oh but I wanted to," John said as he helped her out.

In the back of the car, Giddy smiled widely as he gave them a light clap. John escorted Scarlette to the porch of her house and he rang the doorbell. "Come inside," Scarlette said, her brown eyes sparkling.

"Oh no I couldn't," John said.

"Why not?" Scarlette asked.

"I uh...have some business to attend to at the hospital. My shift begins in half an hour and I have to be there. Poor people, always getting sick."

"Its so thoughtful of you to take care of those sick people," Scarlette said with a smile on her face. She had no idea that all this was a lie. That his love for her was a lie. Or was it? "Well, don't let me keep you waiting," she said. She took a step close to him.

"You have a nice day Ms. Scarlette," he said as he leaned closer to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

At the same time, the door opened and Arianna was standing there looking at Scarlette and John. "DADDY!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. Her scream made John and Scarlette jump. Arianna turned around and ran to her father while screaming, "Scarlette was kissing that guy when you told her she wasn't supposed to!"

"The 'joy killer'," Scarlette mumbled as she looked at her little sister running up the stairs.

"Don't worry about her dear," John said, "a girl with that attitude is going to have a hard time finding a gentleman."

That remark made Scarlette smile. She looked down at her hands that John was holding. "Well I can't wait for our next date tomorrow," she said as she circled her arms around John's neck and gave him a hug.

John froze, not knowing what to do next. He raised his arms and patted her back. He glared at Giddy who was silently laughing and pointed at them. "Wait 'till I get my hands on you" he mouthed at the cat. Giddy stopped laughing and scratched his head at John's mouthed words.

"Scarlette!" Richard yelled inside the house.

Scarlette broke away from John and told him to go. As John was about to leave, he felt Richard's hand on his shoulder. "Where do think you're going?" he gruffly asked John.

John slowly turned around and looked at Richard. _Oh no_ he thought.

"Who are you to kiss my daughter?" he asked as he pulled Scarlette behind him.

John opened his mouth to protest but Scarlette jumped in. "He didn't kiss me daddy, I did," she said as she put a hand on her chest.

Richard looked from John and then at his daughter. His face flushed a red color as his fur began to rise from anger. "You what?" he asked as he got close to her face. He grabbed her arm, "get inside," he said through gritted teeth and he pushed her inside the house.

"Ooh," Arianna teased, "you're in trouble."

Richard turned around and looked at John. "I told you not to do any funny things with my daughter."

"I-" John said but he was cut off.

"Don't ever come near her again!" he yelled as he slammed the door in John's face. John stood there. His eyebrows knitted together from the anger that was building up inside of him. He had a lot of things taken away from him. His mother, his father, and his childhood. Those were all taken away from him and he had allowed that to happen but, he wouldn't allow Richard to take Scarlette away from him.

He walked over to his car and got inside. He clutched the steering wheel with his hands and drove away from the house. He had to get some money for their date tomorrow.

* * *

><p>"Scarlette get back here!" Richard yelled as he ran up the stairs after his daughter.<p>

Scarlette ran as quickly as her feet could carry her. She grabbed the nearest doorknob and flung herself into the room. She locked the door with the key and walked backwards as she heard her father's hand pounding on the door.

"Scarlette open up!" Richard yelled. Scarlette turned her head to the left and saw that there was another door. She opened up the door and saw that it led to her parents bedroom. On the king sized bed, Scarlette saw her mother who was sleeping.

Scarlette lightly closed the door and sank to the floor. She let out a sight mixed with relief and passion after what had happened. She looked up at the ceiling and gathered herself. Her father's pounding stopped and she heard his footsteps walking down the stairs.

"Am I a good girl daddy?" she heard Arianna ask him.

"Yea sweetheart," he said to his youngest daughter, "looks like someone is going to get a lot of presents for Christmas."

"And Scarlette is only going to get black coal in her stockings," Arianna laughed as she walked behind her father.

"Santa doesn't exist you idiot," Scarlette whispered as she ran a hand over her head.

"Scarlette?" Mary's soft voice made its way to her ears. Mary sat up in bed and did a small stretch. "What are you doing here?"

"I am back from my date," Scarlette said as she got up from the floor and approached her mother. As she got closer, she saw red blotches around her mother's eyes as if she had been crying. "Are you okay?" Scarlette asked her as she sat down on the soft bed.

"Don't worry about me," Mary said as she waved her hand in the air. "How did your date go?"

"It was pretty good actually," Scarlette said with a nod of her head. "Promise you won't tell daddy about this."

Mary sucked in some air through her teeth. The mention of her husband made her shake a little. She hadn't left her room when Scarlette had gone on her date with John. "I won't tell him," she said as she shook her head.

"We kissed," Scarlette simply said as a bright smile made its way to her lips.

Mary's eyes brightened. She put a hand over her mouth as if to keep herself from screaming. "Did you like it?" she asked.

"Of course I did," Scarlette assured her, "it was...magical. It was as if he wanted to be with me and not because of the money marries money saying. He kissed me for me."

Mary got up from her bed and went to the phone. She dialed a phone number and waited to talk to the person she was calling.

"Hello?" a feminine voice said on the other line.

"Annette," Mary said, "you are not going to believe this. My daughter has a gentleman caller," she squealed.

Scarlette raised her arms in exasperation at her mother when she said that. Her mother raised her index finger at her to keep her from talking. "Yes they kissed."

"Well its about time," Annette said, "my Charlotte is married to her gentleman caller."

Mary's smile faltered when Annette said that. Her eyes narrowed into jealousy when she heard the news. "Oh," she squeaked as her grip tightened around the phone, "that's...nice. Hope they live in good health."

"They love each other so much Mary," Annette said.

"Yes," Mary dragged out the word, "good bye," she said as she put the phone on the receiver. She put a hand on her head.

"What was that for?" Scarlette blurted out as she got up from bed.

"What?" Mary asked as she turned around and looked at her.

"Why are you telling the whole world at what I'm doing mother?" Scarlette asked. "Can't we keep something private for once?"

"Don't be silly darling I was only telling my best friend."

"And she's going to tell her friend who is going to tell her friend and so on," Scarlette raised her voice. "You know what? Maybe I shouldn't have told you about this?" she said as she stormed out of the room and slammed the door shut.

She quickly got inside her bedroom and locked her door. She jumped on her bed and lay there, looking at the red plump roses that John had given her the other day. One of the roses was losing its petals. She picked it up in her hands and twirled it around. She picked off one of the petals. "He loves me," she said as she took off another one. "He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not." She had two petals left on the stem. "He loves me," she said as she took off the petal. "He loves me not?" she said as she looked at the petal that she had plucked off. _Really_? she though as she let the petal and the naked green stem fall on the floor.

* * *

><p>John and Giddy drove out of the rich town and entered the town where they had spent nearly all of their life. He parked the car near the Red Lobster Inn and walked inside with Giddy, hoping to find the Coachman inside. To his luck, the Coachman was in there, chugging down a cup of beer.<p>

The Coachman looked up and smiled as he saw John and Giddy standing there. "Ahh, long time no see boys," he said as he got up from his seat and walked over to them. "How is my plan coming along. Did you accomplish it?"

"No," John said, "I'm nearly there though. All I need is some money."

The Coachman's smile faltered. "What?" he asked as if John was only joking.

"I need some money for I don't have any money left," John told him.

"What do you need money for?" the Coachman asked. "I stole some from the bank last night and I barely have enough money to build Pleasure Island."

"I am not asking for much money," John told him, "just enough money to go on a date with the girl."

"What?" the Coachman asked, not believing a single word that John had said. "Are you telling me that you need money to pay? I thought you were a conman my good man," he said.

"I am," John said, "I don't think I can con anymore."

"Nonsense," the fat man said, "you are as good at conning people as I am. Con a rich man over there, pretend to pay for the meal, kill the girl and her family, steal her riches and give them back to me. Simple as that."

_Not as simple as getting killed by her father first _John thought as he looked down at his hands. "I can't," he finally said as he looked up at the Coachman. It was wrong for him to cross the Coachman but he just couldn't kill her.

"What?" the coachman asked as he approached John.

"I can't kill her," John told him, "I just can't do it."

"You're not telling me that you're falling in love with this girl are you?" the Coachman asked as his arms tensed.

John could sense that he was not happy with John's choice. John could care less about it. "I am," he said, "that's why I can't kill her."

"You liar!" the Coachman yelled as he backhanded John across the face. John stumbled backwards as he regained his balance by holding onto the table. Giddy jumped in the air when that happened. He looked at John and then at the Coachman.

The Coachman lashed out and grabbed John by the shirt collar and pulled him closer to him. "Listen to me and listen carefully," he growled, "you go against my wishes and I will kill her myself. Her, her family, and I wouldn't mind killing you too!" he said as he flung him towards Giddy.

John fell on the ground and Giddy jumped back. He hopped over to him and helped him up on his feet. "If you don't want me to kill you and your stupid little friend over there," the Coachman said, "you will do exactly as I say. Understood?" he asked.

John and Giddy nodded as if they were his obedient children.

"Good," the Coachman said in a satisfied voice as he walked out of the room.

John walked over to a table and sat down as Giddy followed him. He rested his cheek in his hand and looked around the room as if he was searching for an answer to his predicament.

How was he going to do it?


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't own Pinocchio**

**The name of the "Italian restaurant" was all my dad's idea.**

* * *

><p>Throughout the day, John spent his time hanging out in the Red Lobster Inn. Business was not going well as usual for the Coachman so there were less people in the inn than there were at any place. A cigar hung from John's mouth as he took a huge drag from the tobacco and blew the gray smoke to the air. He rested a furry cheek on one hand and looked around the quiet room.<p>

He spied a poor couple sitting on the table. The man was drinking from his beer cup while the wife smoked. John counted the cigarettes that were on the table that the woman smoked. There were five and she was already on the sixth one. John was not a heavy smoker but whenever he needed to clear his head from anything that was bothering him, his remedy was to smoke.

Giddy sat on the table in front of John. He peeked over at a man's pocket and he saw green paper and gold coins rolling around in his pocket. He used his cane and pulled on the man's pocket. He reached inside and took the money out of the pocket and into his pockets. Once that "mission" was accomplished, he sat back down on the chair and acted as if he hadn't committed the crime. He turned his head and simpered at John while nodding his head with enthusiasm.

John waved his hand in the air to indicate "whatever" at Giddy. "Why the long face John?" the Coachman laughed at the joke that he just made.

"Ha, ha," John sarcastically laughed, "very funny."

The Coachman pushed a cup of beer in front of John. "Drink some, it will make you feel better," he said as he pulled that chair away from the table and sat down.

John tapped the cigar with this finger as the ashes fell on the ground. "I had this idea yesterday," he said.

"Yes?" the Coachman said as he leaned across the table to listen to him. John saw the money that were hanging out of the Coachman's pocket. He watched Giddy's eyes lighting up when he saw the money too.

"Well..." John began as he dragged out the word, "I think that it would be a good idea if I went on a date with that girl," he said. "CAREFUL!" he yelled at Giddy as he was about to fall off the table.

Giddy and the Coachman jumped. Giddy watched with wide eyes while the Coachman was about to turn his head around to look behind him. Luckily, John put his hands on the Coachman's face and turned his neck around to look at him, "there was a huge fly that was about to attack you," John lied, "big, furry, brown, and ugly."

Giddy glared at John when he said that. Sometimes that cat had the tendency of begin dumb but in other situations he was a little smart.

"It went away," John said as he saw Giddy leaning back in his chair as he held the Coachman's money in his hands.

"What kind of a date?" the Coachman asked as he got back on the topic.

"Like a dinner date," John said, "a dinner date might impress her."

The Coachman thought about the idea. A malicious smile suddenly curled up on his lips as he looked at John with those green beady eyes. John mentally squirmed when he saw those eyes. "Seems like a good idea. After your date, take her far, far away," he took the beer cup that John had not touched and chugged it down, "after that, kill her, hide her body somewhere, and then kill her family."

John was about to open his mouth and protest but the Coachman stopped him. "Don't you dare go against my plan," he warned John as he got up from the table and left him there.

Giddy watched as the Coachman left. He jumped off of his seat and sat down to the table where John was sitting.

"I am in deep trouble right now," John said as he massaged his temples. He got up from his seat and left the Red Lobster Inn. He walked down the street and arrived at a phone booth. He got inside the booth, took the phone in his hand, and dialed Scarlette's number.

"Hello?" a voice said on the phone. It was Richard.

John looked at the phone and immediately hung up. Richard was the last person he wanted to talk to. He could image Richard saying "hmph" as John hung up. Whatever, it served him right. He waited for five minutes to pass until he called the house again. He called.

"Hello?" a feminine voice said. _Whew_ John thought. It was Mary. Good thing it wasn't Richard again.

"Good afternoon my dear," John said to her.

"Ohh," Mary gushed as if John was proposing to her, "good afternoon to you too Mr...Howard," Mary said after a long pause. John wondered if Richard was glaring at her at who she was on the phone with.

"Is it alright if I talk to your daughter?" he asked.

"Absolutely," Mary said. She took the phone in her arm and walked up the stairs. "Scarlette," she called as she walked into her room.

Scarlette looked up from her bed and saw her mother with the phone. She sat up on her bed and took the phone in her hands. "Hello?" she said.

"Scarlette," John said.

"Hello John," Scarlette said as she adjusted herself in bed. Mary sat down on her bed to listen to their conversation.

"Look, about the date I planned for yesterday, are you free tonight?" he asked.

"Yes," Scarlette answered with a slight nod.

"Does seven o'clock sound well for you?"

"Yes," she said, "my dad should be out by then for his poker night."

"Excellent," he said, "see you later my little rose," he said as he hung up. _Great! _he yelled in his head. _Another date with her and I'm already giving her nicknames. _He sank on the ground as he thought about the Coachman's plan...again.

* * *

><p>"So, what did he say?" Mary enthusiastically asked once Scarlette hung up.<p>

Scarlette looked at her mother with a grave expression. "Why should I tell you?" she asked.

Mary looked as if Scarlette had slapped her across the face. "Scarlette...I'm surprised at you and your attitude."

"If I told you," Scarlette said as she got up from the bed, "you will go and tell your friends all about it. Then father will find out about it."

"So?" Mary asked.

"Yesterday, father said that John should never come near me again. He thought that John had gotten wise with me and he was yelling at him for that. You were in your bedroom while that happened. Please," Scarlette begged as she sank to the floor on her knees and grabbed her mother's hand, "don't tell your friends, don't tell father, or Arianna, or anybody."

Mary looked deeply into her daughter's eyes. She saw a mixture of emotions. Begging, happiness, sadness, frightened. She put a hand on her daughter's head, "fine," she calmly said with a smile.

Scarlette smiled at her. "Thank you," she said as she gave her mother a hug and a kiss.

* * *

><p>The sun began to set as John and Giddy drove down the rich neighborhood. John took his time. He didn't want to show up to Scarlette's house when Richard was still around. It may sound silly but that fox scared John much more than the Coachman did.<p>

"Here we are," John whispered as he slowed down his speed. He squinted into the distance, he didn't see the black automobile that belong to Richard. Bingo! He parked the car in the driveway of the house and walked to the front porch. He cleared his throat and knocked on the door.

Inside the house, May looked out the window and saw that John was outside. "Arianna," she called as she walked into the living room. "Can you go upstairs please?"

"Why?" Arianna asked as she didn't look up from her magazine.

"Stop reading that," Mary said as she walked up and took the magazine away from her. "I told you to not read these things. They're not suitable for your age."

"I was only ready an article on Clark Gable and Viven Leigh," Arianna said as she jumped off of the couch and walked up the stairs. "You're always mean to me." She yelled as she stormed up the stairs.

Scarlette looked up the stairs as her sister slammed her bedroom door. "Wow," she mouthed as she approached the door. "Is John here?" she asked her mother as she nodded. Scarlette smiled as she opened the door and saw John standing there. Her eyes lit up when she saw him as if he had always been her hero.

"Scarlette," John said, like a gentleman, as he leaned in and kissed her softly on the cheek.

"Hello," she said as she walked out the door. "Shall we?"

"We shall," John said as he held out his arm to her. Scarlette grabbed it and the two walked down the porch.

"Wait!" Mary yelled from inside the house.

Scarlette stopped walked and mentally rolled her eyes. "What now?" she whispered as her mother caught up with them.

"Since you two lovebirds are going to a restaurant, there's nothing more romantic then some music to help you," Mary said as she held up a violin case.

"Is that-" Scarlette was saying but Mary cut her off.

"Here," she said to Giddy as she handed him the violin case, "the butler always plays music for the lovebirds," she said. "But please be careful with it," she whispered to him.

Giddy nodded at her with a smile on his face. He was going to be "careful" with it alright.

"Its a most prized possession," Mary whispered to John. "Well," she said in her normal time of voice right now, "go out and have the time of your lives."

"Do you have a specific time when you want her back home?" John asked her.

"No," Mary said as she shook her head, "stay out all night if you can. Bye!" she sang as she waved at John who was driving out of the driveway.

John looked back as he saw the house disappearing from sight. He let out a big sigh as his gripped the steering wheel.

"Are you okay, you seem so tense," Scarlette pointed out as she watched his grip on the steering wheel. She put a hand on his arm and felt his muscles beginning to relax. "Is this your first time taking a girl on a date?"

"Of course," John said. _That's one truth I have ever said to her _he thought. "That's why I'm kind of nervous."

"Don't worry," Scarlette assured him, "when we get in there, everything will be fine."

"I hope so," John said as he parked the automobile in the parking space of the restaurant.

Scarlette looked up at the name of the restaurant. _Gusto d'amore_ (The Taste of Love). She smiled to herself when she saw the name of the restaurant and its meaning. She looked over at John and thought that this restaurant was a huge hint that he loved her. He did love her of course but then a word that started with the letter "d" would destroy it.

"Here we are my dear," John said as he opened the door for her and Giddy.

"I have never been to this place before," Scarlette said. "You really are a different gentleman," she said as she entwined her fingers in his.

_Sure _he sarcastically thought as they walked inside the building. Once he step foot in the restaurant, he was amazed at what he saw. The walls were painted with a forest green green color followed by a cream color. There were lots of plants that were assorted around the room and the place was filled with many people. Guess he had picked the right place to impress the girl.

"This looks fabulous," Scarlette told him as the two were seated at a private table, away from the commotion of the people.

The two were silent for a minute as they looked through the menu. John was shocked when he looked at the prices of the meals. He hoped that he had enough money to pay for the drinks, appetizers, entrees, and desserts. He hoped that the Coachman hadn't found out about the money that he-well Giddy-stole.

"Oh this is so hard," Scarlette said, "everything looks so good."

_Just don't get anything too expensive_ John thought. He thought it was wise to not tell her about it, for it might offend her.

After ordering their food, Scarlette leaned closer to the table and looked at John. "I have been thinking about something for quite a while."

"What might that be?" John asked.

"Well," she began, "since my father does not want to see you, how about we elope?"

John chocked on his glass of water when she said that. "Wait, what?" he asked as he leaned in closer to her.

"I'm sorry," Scarlette said as she leaned back to her chair, "I thought that if we were ever to get married maybe we should elope so my dad doesn't come after me."

"I'm sorry to say this but what is his problem?" John asked, "he looks so harsh and you're so...sweet."

Scarlette blushed when he said that. "I don't know," Scarlette said, "he loves my little sister more than he loves me," she said. "He's not proud of anything that I do."

"Sorry that you have such a father," John said. _What am I talking about? At least she has a father who didn't get arrested and then killed! At least she has a mother than didn't run off with another fox! AT LEAST SHE HAS A FAMILY!_

"Your father sounded like a nice gentleman than my father," Scarlette told him.

She still believed him on that lie? John couldn't take anymore of this. He loved lying to get what he wanted but he couldn't lie to a vixen that he was liking. "Look Scarlette," he said as he took her hands in his. "I have something to tell you. I am not-"

The waiter came just in time and served the food for them. _Saved by the food _John thought as he looked at the steaming plate that was resting in front of him. The two ate in silence until the dessert came.

"You made the right choice for the restaurant," Scarlette told him.

"I'm glad you liked it," John said.

"So what were you saying before?" she asked him.

John opened his mouth but was cut off by Giddy. Giddy opened the violin case and he pulled out the violin from the case. The violin was taken care of and was well polished as if it had never been used. He took the bow in his hands and looked at the violin.

"Oh," Scarlette said as she recognized the instrument, "that's really sweet that your butler is going to play for us."

Having no idea at how to even hold the instrument, Giddy let the violin dangle from his hand and he moved the bow sideways as if he was sawing through a block of wood. The violin let out sour musical notes as both John and Scarlette put their hands on their ears to block out the "music."

"He isn't musically gifted," John told Scarlette.

Giddy suddenly stopped playing as he saw a fly flying around. He swiped at the fly with the bow but he missed. He swished the violin in the air, hoping to squash it. John and Scarlette dodged just in time before the violin was smashed on their heads. The fly suddenly rested on the table and Giddy smashed the violin on the fly.

Scarlette and John looked at the violin in shock. Its strings were unattached and the stem from the violin was broken. As well as the bottom of the violin which was broken in pieces. John took a deep breath and looked at Giddy with a serious expression. "Giddy," he said as the cat looked at him, "that was Richard's violin."

"Oh no," Scarlette moaned as she buried her face in her hands.


	11. Chapter 11

**I don't own Pinocchio**

* * *

><p>The door to the Vixington's home opened as Richard walked inside. Mary looked up from her book and saw her husband storming inside the house. "Richard," she said as she softly put the book on the living room table. "You're home early."<p>

"I can see that," Richard gruffly said as he looked at the clock on the wall. It was eight o'clock p.m. and he usually came home around ten o'clock during his poker night. "I lost and the idiot took all of my money," he said as he waved his hands in the air.

"You need to rest," Mary said as she walked up to him and took off his coat. "You've had a long night and you need you rest," she said as she walked him over to the couch. She bend her knees on the floor and took off his black shoes. She took his legs and put them on the couch and propped the fluffy pillow on behind his head so he could be comfortable.

"Actually," John said as he got up from his position, "I'm going to my library to read a good book and play the violin. That should probably lighten my mood," he said as he got up from the couch and did a little stretch, "where are the girls by the way?"

Mary's eyes were wide open when he mentioned the violin. She only hoped that it was safe and sound. "Oh, well Arianna is in her room and so is Scarlette."

"She better be in her room," Richard said as he walked out of the living room to go to his library. Mary knew that she was never going to hear the end of why his violin was not in his room. She sat down on the couch and waited for his scream to commence.

Meanwhile, John opened the French doors that led to his library. His room was filled with books that were stacked on each shelf in alphabetical order. There was a fiction section, a historical section, non-fiction section, and many more genres. He picked out a red book from the historical section and set it down on the table. "Before I read," he mumbled to himself, "I should play some music for myself."

He stalked over to a brown colored cabinet and opened. His eyes were wide open as he found the cabinet empty. "MARY!" he screamed.

* * *

><p>"I am so sorry," John said as he pulled up to the driveway. He had apologized a thousand times to her about the violin. "I didn't know that my butler would turn out to be such an idiot," he said as he hit Giddy on the head with his can again. He looked at the driveway and saw that Richard's car was there. He took a deep breath as he tried to figure out a way to explain the situation to him.<p>

"Don't worry about it," Scarlette suddenly said, "its not your fault or your butler's. I would have acted the same way if I saw a bug flying around me but I only wish that he was more careful with it," she said as she took the tattered violin in her hands.

"Now I have to tell your father about it," Richard said as he parked the car in the driveway.

"No," Scarlette said as he looked at her in a surprised expression. "I will tell him that I broke it. He has been on you quite enough."

John opened his mouth to say something but was at the loss of words. "But, you didn't do it. He is going to find out who did it."

"And I could care less," Scarlette said. She was getting fed up with her father always walking on her as if he had the power. "Will I see you again?" she asked as her expression softened.

It was hard for John to say this right now. He wished to say yes but after Scarlette told him about the violin, he knew that Richard was going to find out about it and would probably kill John for it. "No," he finally said.

"What?" Scarlette softly said as she looked at him with a sad expression. He was the one that made her happy and took her away from her house.

"I just can't see you anymore," John told her, "after this happened."

"You're afraid about the violin?" Scarlette asked him, "so what if it broke? He would get over it and live if he was mature enough but if he doesn't then he's not such a good father."

John didn't want to argue with her. His decision was final! It wasn't because he hated the girl, he as doing this for the better of his life. "Yes I am," he truthfully said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the pearl necklace that he had stole from the house where he called Mary a couple of days ago. "This is a present for you," he said as he held up the necklace in front of her.

Scarlette looked at the present. None of the others had done such a thing for her before. "It's beautiful," she said as she touched one of the pearls. The necklace lightly swung back and forth when she touched it.

John reached out and wrapped the necklace around her neck. "That's a present from me," John told her, "to remember me."

"I'm not going to see you again?" she asked.

"No," he shook his head. _If I don't see her then I don't have to kill her or be killed by her father _John thought.

Disappointed, Scarlette shook her head and got out of the car. "Thank you for such a wonderful night," she said as she walked around the car and went to John's side. "I just hope that we see each other again," she said as she lightly gave him a kiss on the cheek. She gave him a sad smile and walked away from him.

John watched as she walked to the front porch and looked back at him. He gave her a small wave and she disappeared into the house. After she was gone, John pulled out of the driveway. He was not going back to that house. Heck, he was never coming back here!

* * *

><p>Once Scarlette walked inside her house, she was welcomed by the shrieks that were happening in the other room. Curious, she walked to her father's library and saw her younger sister sitting by the doorway. Her face was hiding in her knees. "Arianna?" Scarlette said as she saw her sister.<p>

Arianna looked up at her older sister. Her furry face was streaked with tears. "Scarlette," she said as she ran over to her sister and hugged her.

Scarlette was surprised. Arianna had never hugged her before but she didn't mind. She always wished for someone to hug her like that. "What's going on are you okay?" she asked as she looked down at her sister.

"Daddy and mom," she said as she sniffed. "Daddy pushed me!"

"He wouldn't do that," Scarlette assured her, "he loves you." _More than any of us _she wanted to add but decided not to.

The yelling increased as Arianna clung herself onto Scarlette. "I'm going to see what's going on," she said as she opened one of the French doors and peeked inside. Books were scattered on the floor. Her mother was sitting on a chair, her face smothered in her handkerchief while her father was standing over by a table. His hand was on his hip and his other hand was resting on the table. He looked up when Scarlette walked inside.

"What is that?" he asked when he saw the broken violin in her hands.

Scarlette looked down and saw that she was carrying it. "Oh," she said as she looked at her dad, "I was trying to play some music just for curiosity and it fell out of my hands."

Richard marched over to her and grabbed her by the wrist. He pulled her closer to him. The pull made her loose her grip on the violin and it fell on the floor. "I told you not to touch my violin!" he yelled in her face. His grip tightened on her wrist.

"Daddy you're hurting me," she said.

"I can hurt you a lot more than this," he seethed.

"Richard, no," Mary suddenly said.

"Shut up!" he yelled at his wife. He looked at her neck and saw the necklace that John had given her. "Where did you get that necklace?" he asked her.

"I got this from my jewelry box," she lied.

Richard slapped her across the face and grabbed her wrist again and pulled her closer again. "You did not," he said as he looked at her with hatred. Scarlette had never seen him this angry before. "You were out with that idiot weren't you?"

"So what?" Scarlette suddenly yelled as she pulled her wrist away from him. "You wanted me to have a gentleman caller didn't you?"

"He is not a gentleman caller," Richard said as he shook her head at her, "he is a one sleazy fox."

"He can be whatever he wants to be for all I care," Scarlette argued, "I love him!"

Richard looked at her in surprise. "You what?" he asked with a smirk on his face.

"I love him," Scarlette repeated, "and you are not going to stop me!" she yelled as she turned on her heel and ran out of the room. The front door of the house slammed as she ran out to go and find John. She didn't care that John was afraid of her father. She didn't even care about the excuses that John told her. She was going to find wherever he was.

John pulled onto his coat and wore it around his shoulders. He took his car keys and stormed out of the house.

"Where are you going?" Mary asked him.

"I'm going to find her," Richard said as he put his hand on the doorknob, "and when I do she is going to get the beating of her life," he said as he slammed the door shut.

* * *

><p>Scarlette ran as quickly as she could. Her chest quickly heaved up and down as she tried to increase her running. She had never been out of the house on her own before and she was afraid of getting lost or someone kidnapping her. Whatever happened, she was still going to find John. She stopped by a nearby alley as she tried to catch her breath. What was the street name where John lived? If she asked someone maybe they might know. After all, every rich person recognized one another.<p>

"Excuse me," she said as she ran over to a man that was walking down the street, "do you know where Mr. Foulfellow lives?"

"Who?" the man asked her.

"A man named Foulfellow," Scarlette told him, "well his whole name is John Worthington Foulfellow," she told him, "do you know the address?"

The man looked at her as if she was a crazy girl. "I have never heard that name in my life," the man told her as he started to walk away from her.

"No," Scarlette said as she grabbed him by the arm and pulled his towards, "you must know where he is. He lives somewhere around your town...Diamond Street! That's right!"

"The only people I know that lives on the street are the Howards. Not this person named 'Foulfellow,'" he said as he made a face at the name.

Scarlette looked at him helplessly. Had John lied to her about where he lived? But he had taken her to his house and proudly showed her everything. What else had he lied to her? The man had left her and she stood alone on the street. A car pulled up to her as its blazing headlights blinded her sight.

When she moved her hand away from her face, she saw her father standing on his seat. "Scarlette get in the car," he told her.

"No," Scarlette said as she took a step back. "I am never coming home with you!" she said as she glared at her father.

Richard gripped the steering wheel with his hands. "You are in trouble enough. Don't make it harder on yourself."

"Just leave me alone," Scarlette told him, "you have ruined my chance!" she yelled as she ran away from him.

"Scar-Scarlette get back here!" Richard yelled as he saw his daughter disappearing deeper and deeper into the foggy distance. He sat back on his seat, gripped the steering and went after his daughter.

* * *

><p>Scarlette ran until she didn't hear or see her father's car. A fence stood in her way. She jumped on the fence and climbed over it and landed to the ground other side. A dog barked at her as he jumped and grabbed her dress with his mouth.<p>

Scarlette gasped as she got up from the ground tried to get away from him. She pulled on her dress but once she did, the lower part of her dress was teared as the dog began to gnaw on it. She didn't care about the dress. Once she was free from the dog's jaws, she ran out of the alley as quickly as possible. She looked at her hands and dress and saw that she was dirty. She wiped her forehead to get rid of the sweat and she continued to run in search for John.

As she ran, she noticed that she was in a different section of town. All of the shops were closed and there were posters on the wall of a man named Stromboli and his puppet show. She squinted into the distance as the fog blocked her sight. She heard something snap behind her as she quickly turned around to look. "John?" she called, hoping to see him.

But there was no response.

She stumbled backwards as she tripped over something or someone. She looked at the object that she had tripped over. It was a shiny leather boot. She looked up as she saw a tall, fat man looking down at her. Something in Scarlette's mind told her to run away but she was too frightened to move a muscle. The man had a scary look on his face.

"Are you alright my dear?" he asked her as he bent down and grabbed her hand. He helped her to her feet.

Scarlette's sight never left his. Who was this man? The man examined her up and down and saw that her clothes were a tattered mess and she was dirty also. "My poor girl," he said as if he felt bad for her, "what have you been through?" he asked as he wiped the dirt off of her clothes.

"A lot," Scarlette answered as she looked at her dirty dress.

"Come with me," the man in the red clothes said as he softly took her by the arm. "You need to be taken care of."

"Where are you taking me?" Scarlette asked him as she stood her ground.

"I am just going to take you to my house and my wife is going to take care of you," the man lied. "What were you running from my dear girl?" he asked as he put an arm around her shoulders and the two of them walked down the street.

"From home," Scarlette told him.

"Why?" the man asked her.

"Because I'm not at such good terms with my dad and he wouldn't let me see my boyfriend anymore," she answered as she added a small shrug to him.

The man looked at her and gave her a sly smile. Maybe he should open another island for stupid little girls. "That's very bad," he said in a "concerned" tone of voice. "What might your name be?" he asked her.

"Scarlette Vixington," Scarlette told him.

"Such a pretty name," the man told her.

"Who might you be?" Scarlette asked him.

"Oh you don't need to know my name," the man mysteriously said, "what is your boyfriend's name by the way?"

"I don't know if I should tell you," Scarlette told him.

The man's hand gripped her shoulder. "I might know him."

"Oh well in that case, his name is John Worthington Foulfellow," she told him.

"Ahh good John," the man said as he smile appeared on his lips.

"You know him?" Scarlette asked as she looked at him with a smile on her face.

"Of course I do," the fat man said, "we are good friends and I know where he lives. I will take you to him."

"Oh thank you so much sir," Scarlette said, having the urge to hug him right now. She was going to see John again! This time she was going to stay with him!

If this fat man didn't get in the way...


	12. Chapter 12

**I don't own Pinocchio**

* * *

><p>As Scarlette walked along the street with the fat man, a streetlight shined on the man's face. Scarlette looked at his facial features. He had doughy cheeks, white hair, green eyes, and the most malicious smile she had ever seen. He wore red clothes, gray gloves, and black leather boots that squeaked when he walked. Without knowing him, Scarlette had no idea that he was the Coachman that kidnapped little boys and took them to Pleasure Island. She looked up as she saw the name of the place that they were arriving to. It was the Red Lobster Inn.<p>

"Ladies first," the Coachman smiled at her as Scarlette walked inside. This wasn't a cafe or the kind of inn that were round her town. This looked like the inn where poor people went to. Either way, Scarlette was grateful for his hospitality and what a coincidence that he knew who John Worthington Foulfellow was. "Sit, sit," the Coachman told her as he pulled out a chair from a table.

Scarlette walked over and sat down. She watched as she saw the man walking over behind the bar table and fumbling with some supplies behind there. "Here we are my dear," the Coachman said as he walked over to the table and handed her a mug that was filled with bubbly beer. "Cigar?" he asked as he pulled out a cigar from his pack.

"No thank you," Scarlette said, "I don't smoke...or drink," she added as she lightly pushed the mug of beer away from her. She had never seen beer in her life before and she stared at the foam that was dripping from the mug in disgust. Not to mention that the fume from the alcoholic drink was making her nauseous.

The Coachman only smiled at her. "Come on my dear," he told her, "haven't you drank beer before?"

"No," she answered as she shook her head.

Wanting to egg her on, the Coachman continued to question her. "You're not from around here are you?" he asked her as she shook her head at him, "its not everyday that you see a fox running around here. See we only have one living in the part of town."

"The poor part of town?" Scarlette asked, "surely you don't mean John sir."

"But I do," the Coachman told her, "he lives around here and might I mention that he us a criminal. He steals money from people!"

"No," Scarlette said as she slightly shook her head, "that's not the John I know. Maybe you're confusing him with someone else."

The Coachman gritted his teeth as he tried to retain his sanity. He thought that this girl was dumb enough to fall for his comments on John but she was clever at finding another argument. "Does he have orange colored fur?" he asked her.

"Yes," she answered.

"Does he wear a tuxedo?"

"Yes."

"Does he live in a part of town where everyone is rich?"

"Yes."

"All those are lies," the Coachman told her, "except for the colored fur bit, that is true," he reached out and put his large hand on hers. He slowly gripped her hand just to make sure that she wouldn't run away from him. "I am sorry to say this to you my dear but John has lied to you. He is not rich, he probably stole that tux from a store, and the home where he lived in was probably a hoax."

Scarlette looked closely to the man. She saw something twinkling in his eye. Was it excitement or pleasure? "How do you know John?" she asked him.

"He hangs out here all this time," the Coachman told her, his hand still on hers.

"Along with the cat?" she asked as she thought of Giddy all of a sudden. _That might explain why John's butler didn't act like a butler at all_ she thought. Tears slowly began to fill her eyes as she looked down to the floor. She had been tricked! She thought that he loved her but that must have been a lie too.

"There, there," the Coachman said as he patted her hand, "its not nice to be lied to now is it?" he softly asked her as she looked up at him. "I think that you should never see this man again. He did something that he should be ashamed of. Why should he lie to a beautiful woman like you?" he asked her as his eyes began to sparkle.

The inn door opened as Giddy walked inside. He stopped short and stared at Scarlette in shock when he saw her sitting there with the Coachman. He turned around to go and warn John about what he saw but as he turned he bumped into John.

John looked down at Giddy and then looked up where he saw the Coachman and Scarlette. "Scarlette?" he asked as he looked at her in shock.

"Well, well, well," the Coachman said as he slowly got up from his seat and looked at John, "look at what the cat dragged in," he added a laugh at his own joke only to get a glare from Giddy. "I'm going to leave you two lovebirds to solve you little problem." He turned around and headed towards the stairs where he disappeared into a room.

"What are you doing here?" John asked as he approached Scarlette.

"Might I ask you the same thing," Scarlette said as she stood up from the table and glared at John.

"And what happened?" he asked as he looked at her dirty face and her tattered dress.

"Forget about that," Scarlette said, "I just found out something interesting about you."

"What is that?" he asked her as his fingers fidgeted with his cane.

"You," she said as she pointed at him, "are nothing but liar!" she stated as she put her hands on her hips and continued to glare at him. "This nice gentleman told me everything about you. You are not rich at all are you?"

"Nice?" he asked as he stared at the word. The Coachman was not nice, he was evil! "You have no idea what danger you got yourself into," he said as he put his hands on her shoulders.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled as she tore her shoulders away from his touch. John took a step back as if she was going to unleash herself onto him. "The only danger I got myself into was being tricked by you lies and coming out here to find you. I should have listened to my father," she said as she walked past John and went to the door. She stopped, turned around, and looked at John once more. "Your love to me was also a lie!"

"Now that's not true!" John said as he quickly walked up to her and grabbed her hand so she wouldn't escape. "When I saw you at first, I didn't feel like myself. When you talked to me, when you came to the house that's not mine and kissed me, I felt like I was one of those lucky men! I do love you!"

Scarlette let out an angry sigh. "If you did love me then you wouldn't have lied to me."

"Could we put that behind us?" John asked her, "if I explained to you this whole conversation, it wouldn't make any sense now would it?"

"Why don't you tell me the side of your story?" Scarlette asked him as she walked back to the table and sat down on the chair, "I'm not going anywhere."

John looked at the back of the room where he saw the stairs. He had a bad feeling that the Coachman was going to come out of the darkness any second now. He looked back at Scarlette and saw that she was still glaring at him. "Not here," he said.

Scarlette's features softened. They went from angry to frightened. "Why?" she asked as John grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the chair. "Wait, wait," Scarlette said as she stopped in her tracks. "Why not here?"

"Just come," John told her, "I'll explain everything to you, just not in here."

"Oh you two are not going anywhere," the Coachman's voice came from the darkness.

Scarlette gasped as John pulled her closer to him. The Coachman held a gun in the air as a devious smile spread across his face. "Which one, which one?" he asked as he looked at John, Scarlette, and Giddy. "Ah, I think I should get rid of the weakest link first," the Coachman said as he pointed his gun at Giddy.

Giddy closed his eyes with his hands while John and Scarlette stared in horror.


	13. Chapter 13

**I don't own Pinocchio**

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><p>Giddy waited for his death to come. He could not move for he was to afraid that if he did, he was going to get killed anyway. He waited to hear the gun shot and the bullet piercing through him and later feeling the slight pain before he died. He felt something grip his shoulder and he was lifted off of the ground.<p>

"GO!" John yelled as she pushed Scarlette out of the door. They got out soon enough before the bullet hit the wall behind them. Giddy took his hands away from his face and he was relieved to find himself alive. He looked at the fox that was holding his arm and it was Scarlette that had saved him.

"The car is right here," John said as he pointed to the car with his cane.

Scarlette looked back and saw that the Coachman was slowly walking towards them with his gun in the air. "Hurry," she said as she jumped into the car, not even bothering to open the door. John's hand shook as he tried to put the key into the engine. "Hurry!" Scarlette yelled making it more harder for him to do it.

"I'm trying!" John yelled and at his last attempt he finally put the key in the ignition. The car turned on and John quickly drove away from the Coachman. He drove onto a road and he quickly drove out of sight.

The Coachman narrowed his eyes to the car. He was going to catch them if it was the last thing he would do. He didn't have a car with him but he had a source of transportation with him. He walked over to the backside of the Red Lobster Inn and looked at the carriage that was pulled by little donkeys. The Coachman got onto the carriage and when he did, the carriage shook which caused the donkeys to wake up. "Move it you blokes!" the Coachman yelled as he whipped at the poor animals.

The donkeys were snapped back into reality and they pulled the carriage, taking the Coachman to his location.

* * *

><p>Scarlette continued to turn her head to see if they were being followed. Giddy was sitting in the backseat of the car and he always looked behind him when Scarlette did, making himself become more paranoid than he was. John's muscles tensed on the wheel as he tried to drive as quickly as possible.<p>

"I am so stupid," Scarlette let out a puff of breath. "I got everybody into this mess."

"No its my fault," John suddenly said as Scarlette looked at him. "I-we work for him. Well this was actually my whole plan before he became involved."

"So you used me, again?" she asked.

"Yes, no, yes," John said, "I thought you were a human and not like me."

"So you go around and con people for their money and not foxes? That's preposterous!" Scarlette said as she threw her arms in the air.

John quickly slammed on the brakes when he saw that they were running out of road. He got up from his seat and saw that they arrived at a cliff where the sea was crashing against a pile of pointy rocks. "Okay," John said as he sat back down on his seat and looked at her. He took her hand in his and squeezed it. "I was not the way I was when I was young. My parents were not rich. My mother left me and my father was killed. I was taken in by the Coachman and raised this way. To con people of their money and he is one too," he said as he pointed at Giddy.

Scarlette nodded at him. "So you wanted to con me of my money so you can have it all to yourself," she said as she pointed at him. "My father was right. You are a sleazy fox."

John was taken aback when she said that to him. He knew himself that he was but he didn't expect such a word from her. "What do you want me to do?" he asked as he spread his arms out. "I do apologize. I am sorry for doing such a thing."

"Its not about the money," Scarlette said as she shook her head at him, "what I'm trying to say is that do you love me? More than you move money?"

"Of course I love you. Otherwise I wouldn't have taken you out on a date and kissed you now would I?" he asked as he gave her a smile.

"Of course not," Scarlette said as she returned him a smile, "for a sleazy fox you are a gentleman."

"Don't say that please," he told her and she gave him a nod.

Behind them, hoof steps were heard as John, Scarlette, and Giddy turned their heads and looked at who come. A black carriage being pulled by a couple of donkeys approached them. "Thought you could get away from me?" the Coachman said as he stepped out of the carriage and jumped to the ground. "You cannot escape me. No matter how hard you try."

John got in front of Scarlette.

The Coachman gave John a grin that sent chills down his spine. "Are you going from being a conman to being heroic?" the Coachman asked as he pointed his gun at John. "Well I don't mind finishing you too."

A car's headlights shined as a rich looking car parked behind the carriage. A man jumped out of the car as he approached the Coachman. The Coachman turned around and looked at him. "Good to see you Richard," he said to the fox.

The fox smiled at him. "How are you doing Coachman?" he asked.

Scarlette's and John's jaws dropped when they saw Richard talking to the Coachman as if they had been friends for a long time. "Dad?" Scarlette asked as she looked at him in shock.

"Did you take care of your wife and daughter as you were told?" the Coachman asked him.

"Yes," Richard said as he gave the Coachman a nod. "They are dead."

Scarlette was shocked when she heard this. "You killed my mother and my sister?" she yelled as she walked up in front of him. She didn't know what else to say. She was at a loss of words as she looked at her father with an expression mixed fear, hurt, and hatred.

Richard reached out and grabbed her by the wrists. He gave her a push and she missed her step and she fell off the cliff.

"SCARLETTE!" John called out as he ran towards the cliff. When he did, Richard and the Coachman circled around him. The Coachman still held the gun in front of John. John looked over at Giddy and said, "go and see if she's okay!" he yelled.

Giddy nodded and ran in the opposite direction.

"No you idiot, that way!" he yelled as he pointed to the direction where the cliff was.

Giddy changed course and ran back to the cliff. He crouched down and looked down at the cliff and he saw Scarlette who was safely on top of a small cliff but it was far enough for him to reach her. He felt himself being lifted from the ground as Richard grabbed him by the shirt collar. He was thrown off of the cliff.

Scarlette examined herself as she looked at her bruised arms. Instead of being catapulted, she rolled down the rocky road and she luckily fell on the small cliff. She looked up as she saw a body falling down. Before she could figure out who it was, Giddy fell past her but he was quick enough to grab a branch that was hanging out of the rock wall.

Giddy looked down and saw the pointy rocks and the water that was crashing against the rocks. He closed his eyes as he tried to use his upper body to get to the small cliff but when he did, the branch slowly began to break. He watched as a hand reached out. He quickly grabbed it and when he did, the branch broke and it fell into the water.

"Come on," Scarlette said as she helped him up to the cliff. Giddy jumped into her arms to keep himself from slipping off.

From the top of cliff, John watched as the two men began to circle him. He had never been engaged into a fight before. He kept his eyes closely on the both of them. The Coachman raised his eyebrows to Richard and Richard reached out and grabbed John by the arms and pinned them against him.

John tried to free himself from Richard but the fox had a tight grip on him. "Get off of me!" he snapped as he continued to struggle. He accidentally raised his foot back and kicked Richard in the stomach. Richard moaned in pain as he put his hands on his stomach and knelt to the ground.

John ran in front of the Coachman and grabbed his arm that was holding the gun. The Coachman threw his arm in the arm so John wouldn't catch it. John got up on his toes as he tried to reach of the gun but the Coachman leaned backwards and he wasn't able to get it.

The Coachman threw him off and John fell to the ground. He quickly got up and charged at the Coachman again. He swung his arm at the Coachman's arm and the impact from the punch caused the Coachman to lost his grip on the gun. John ran to the gun and he kicked it off of the road and he watched as the weapon disappeared into the darkness. The Coachman ran behind John and put his arm around his neck, choking him. John bit him hard and he released. Once he did, John whirled around to look at the Coachman. He noticed that he was running out of the road.

The Coachman looked up at John and gave him another sneer. He charged at him but John jumped out of the way and the Coachman gasped. Too late, he fell into the darkness, never to be seen again. John let out a sigh as he tried to catch his breathing. He was not finished yet. He had to deal with Richard. He watched as Richard got to his feet and looked at John.

Richard noticed that the Coachman was nowhere to be seen. He figured out the John and pushed him off the cliff. He was becoming afraid of John right now. He was afraid of death. He quickly jumped into his car and drove away before John could get his hands on him.

John watched when Richard drove away. "Well that was easier than I though," he said with a slight shrug. He suddenly remembered Scarlette. He ran over to the cliff and saw that Scarlette and Giddy were still there, dirty and alive.

Scarlette looked up and saw John there. She gave him a smile when she saw him alive. "I heard screaming," she said, "what happened?"

"I'll explain everything," John said, "just hang on." He ran over to his car and pulled out the black cane that he carried. He crouched to the ground and used his cane as a mechanism to help her get up. "Can you reach it?" he asked.

"Wait," Scarlette said, "get on my shoulders," she told Giddy and he did. Giddy reached out his arm and grabbed the cane. John felt it and he pulled Giddy up. Giddy set himself on the ground and watched as John tried to reach for Scarlette.

"I can't reach it," she called.

John threw his cane to the ground and went over to the carriage. He noticed that the Coachman had a whip with him so he grabbed it and let it slither down to Scarlette. It was long enough for Scarlette to reach. She grabbed it and with the help of Giddy, John pulled her up to safety. He grabbed her hand once she made it to the top and helped her to the ground.

"What an adventure," she said as her chest heaved up and down, "and you saved me," she added as she looked at him. She leaned over and gave John a kiss. John was surprised by that but he was happy that she could trust him again.

After Scarlette kissed him, Giddy jumped in her arms and gave her a hug, thanking her for saving him too. "Get away from my lady," John joked as he gave him a friendly glare. "I'll take you home," John offered as he helped Scarlette to her feet and walked over to the car. "I'll come with you."

"I just feel so betrayed right now," she said as her eyes began to fill with tears, "it's not you, it was my father. I cannot believe he would kill my mother and sister."

"I don't have any other place where we could stay," John told her, "it will all be okay," he said as they got out of the cliff and drove back to Scarlette's house, where a surprise would be waiting for them.


	14. Chapter 14

**I don't own Pinocchio**

* * *

><p>Scarlette was hesitant to go back home. She didn't want to home and see the horror of her mother's and sister's corpse lying there. She couldn't believe why Richard had done such a thing. Wasn't he a father? Shouldn't he have been taking care of the family rather than making everything worse? She was horrified when she saw her father appearing by the cliff and talking to the Coachman. It was as if she didn't recognize him anymore.<p>

John on the other hand couldn't believe the mess he had gotten Scarlette in. Not just Scarlette but her whole family. He didn't feel close to Arianna but he was beginning to feel closer to Scarlette's mother, Mary. She was the type of mother that John never had and now she was gone because of Richard. He swore that if he ever saw that fox again, he was going to kill him.

Giddy was affected by this as much as Scarlette was. Now he had found his new fear after all of this mess had happened. He was afraid of heights and he wanted to stay away from tall cliffs or buildings as best as he could.

"Look out!" Scarlette yelled as John quickly swerved the car off the street. He stopped the car and saw a rich looking car accelerate down the street. A line of police cars chased after the car.

John let out a sigh as he leaned back in his seat. "I am so sorry about all of this," he said.

"You should be," Scarlette told him.

"And I am," he said.

Scarlette turned her head and looked at him in the eyes. "But not all of this is your fault. My father-I don't even know what relation I have to him anymore-had a fault in this too. Way worse than you have it."

John put his hands on the steering wheel and looked at her. "Are you sure you want to go back home?"

Scarlette didn't answer him right away. She was afraid to go back but she had to. That was her home and her only place where she could live in. "Just go," she answered and he did as he was told.

They were silent the rest of the way home. John wanted to say something to her. Anything to spark up a conversation because the silent treatment was killing him but he went against the idea. He was too scared to say anything because whatever he said, he feared that she was going to snap at him and he didn't want that.

Scarlette's eyes opened wide when they were approaching her house. The lights in the house were on. _Maybe they're fine _Scarlette hopefully thought. She got out of the car once John parked and ran to the door.

John and Giddy followed her. John watched as Scarlette stood frozen to the ground. He approached her and saw where she was looking at. At the side of the door, there was a light red color in the shape of a small paw. Judging by the size of the paw, it belonged to Arianna.

Scarlette put a hand on her mouth as her eyes filled with tears. John hesitated as he rose up his hands and put them on her shoulders. He felt the shoulders shaking violently. He noticed her turning around and looking at him with those teary eyes. She put her arms around his neck and hugged him. John was caught off guard. Never in his life had he been hugged before. He put his head on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist, returning back the favor.

"Scarlette?" a voice said behind them.

Scarlette let go of John and looked at him. "I loved my mother so much that I can still hear her voice," she said as John gave her a sad nod.

Having heard the voice behind him, Giddy turned around and saw Mary and Arianna right there. Mary had her hand wrapped to her side while Arianna hid behind her. Both girls looked like a mess and Giddy saw some scarlet color on Mary's hand. He gave them a wide smile as he pulled on Scarlette's dress.

Scarlette looked down at Giddy and the looked at where he was pointing. "Oh mother!" she said as she let go of John's hand and ran over to them.

"Scarlette," Mary said as she hugged her daughter, "you're alright."

Arianna came up from behind her mother and she hugged her older sister. "I am so sorry for being mean to you," she said as she looked up at her.

Scarlette smiled. "It's alright, you're a sister. That's what you're supposed to be doing," she said as she patted her on the back.

"Don't encourage her," Mary said.

Scarlette smiled at her mother. "I thought you guys were...you know."

Mary looked at her daughter up and down. She was surprised to see her daughter in her tattered dress but by looking at it, she thought that Scarlette had been in the same situation as she and Arianna had. "You should know that your father-"

"Tried to kill you," Scarlette finished. "At least you guys are fine," she said with another smile.

"I sent the police after him right after he left. As I was running away from him, he slashed me here," she said as she removed her hand away from the wound. It was only a slight cut which was enough to make her bleed, "but Arianna escaped just in time."

"I was hiding by a bush in the backyard," Arianna said as she pointed to a random dark green bush.

Scarlette turned around and looked at John. "So those police cars were after my father," she said.

Mary looked at John and walked over to him. She gave him a kiss on the cheek to thank him. "Thank you so much for protecting my daughter," she said her eyes filled with thoughtfulness.

"Mrs. Vixington," John whispered as he took her hand in his, "I am not the man, I mean fox that you have always been thinking of."

"What are you talking about?" Mary whispered back, "you are a gentleman."

John looked at Scarlette and saw that she was busy talking with Giddy and Arianna. He looked back at Mary and began to tell her about everything that had happened and the type of fox he really was. "But I love her," he finished.

Mary was surprised at what she had been hearing. She was shocked to hear that John was poor and had spend his years being a con man but one thing that stuck out to her was that he was still in love with Scarlette. Mary could feel that her daughter's feelings were the same for John. She smiled warmly at him as she put a hand on his cheek. "Go tell her," she said.

"Thank you," John breathed as he smiled at her. He gathered up his courage and walked over to Scarlette. He tapped on her shoulder and she turned around and looked at him. "From everything that has happened," he began, "I still love you."

Scarlette looked at the ground and gave him a nod. "The feeling is mutual," she said as she wrapped her hands around his neck and kissed him.

Mary watched as she put her hand on her lips. She was ecstatic that Scarlette had finally found her lover.

"What the...?" Arianna said as she was looking at her sister. Giddy quickly covered her eyes with his hands to not let her see the both of them kissing.

After giving John a kiss, she looked a him and smiled. "I would be honored to be your wife too."

"The same here dear," he said as he returned back the kiss.

After all of this jumbled mess, one good thing came out of it. Both John and Scarlette had found love and they were happy to be with one another, even though John was not like her other gentlemen callers. John was better than them. He was nice, he was romantic, and he was also one brave fox to have saved her and he truly loved her and he meant it.

And she was happy and so was he.

* * *

><p><strong>The End<strong>


End file.
